Billy was sitting peacefully in his cage. There were others in his cage as well, but everyone was doing what they wanted to do. Some were playing with each other while some were sleeping.

Five years ago Billy was born. He and his mother had been brought from Africa, though now they were accustomed to living here. Their lives were not particularly eventful; Billy had been brought up in the same company all his life. That was about to change when a fair-skinned human appeared on the other side of the cage.

With a menacing grin on his face, the man spoke, “The fat one comes out. Say your bye-byes.”

Billy didn’t want his mother to leave but he was a powerless five year old child. The man noticed the child who was pounding the cage and said, “Don’t worry young one, I will give you many bananas to eat!”

The cage was locked and Billy’s mother was gone. Billy growled and stomped the ground. No amount of bananas could substitute his mother. There was no one in the cage who was ready to help him. A promise of an endless supply of food was enough to make them stay in their cage all their lives. Billy realised that he had to save his mother alone.

He thought of climbing out of the cage. There was an opening high up which he could fit through. The only trees that he had ever climbed were those in his cage. He made up his mind to escape anyway.

It was a difficult task; by the time Billy reached the opening his arms and feet were aching. He came out. Here was a world he had never seen before; people walking on two limbs and speaking the same language as the man who took Billy’s mother. All this did not stop him from advancing forward.

A mother loves her children dearly and children love their mother. Neither can see the other in pain and they will go to any limits to feel the other safe. Although this is not true for all animals it is true for enough.

A human noticed Billy. She shouted, “Hey! This one’s not in his cage!” Billy never guessed what she meant. A horde of men appeared, holding a net in their arms. Billy figured out that he wouldn’t be able to save his mother. A single tear fell from his eye.

Suddenly a loud siren sounded. A bigger group of men surrounded the group which had surrounded Billy. To him they were all the same, out to catch him. He was wrong. One of the men from the larger group came forward and said, “As of 1863, slavery has been abolished under the authority of President Abraham Lincoln. Stop treating humans like monkeys.”

Billy was reunited with his mother and they never had to live in a cage ever again.