The Disappearance of Cow Creek

The Incident

Throughout (what I think was) about a week, we all sat in those cages, unable to do much of anything. If we had rocks, or sticks, or anything we might have been able to break out, but all we had was the sand and our food and water, which was bolted to the side of the tank. Many more aliens came in, buying us humans as well as other alien creatures. Our numbers dwindled. At one point, the store owner scooped out all the sand we had been using as a bathroom and replaced it with new stuff, which was good, though we did have to rebuild the sand walls we had been hiding behind to use the "restroom" half of the tank. Aside from that, it was just a routine of occasional food and water changes, and random alien customers coming in and taking some of us humans or other alien animals away. Some of the customers were really small, like, the same size as children, and some towered over even the shopkeeper.
This planet/marketplace seemed to be a hub for species from all over the place. We had nothing to do all day except talk, exercise, or draw and play in the sand (which gets reeeeaaally old pretty fast). But we all were still kinda adjusting and didn't have much to say, other than reassurances or small talk. I mostly sat around or did some exercise, but our food wasn't great for having high energy. I missed earth terribly.
Towards the end of the week, I figured that our food was not drugged, since none of us were really acting any less normal than a human possibly could in our insane situation.

It was the 8th day in the shop (to us humans' best knowledge), and some of us were getting pretty antsy. I was people-watching (the men across the isle), who were doing nothing any more interesting than we were. Most of us were starting to stink, and while sand baths removed dirt and oil, they didn't do much for smells, and left your skin pretty sensitive and irritated. so, I was avoiding the other women as best as I could in a space smaller than half of a lousy school gymnasium. The men across the isle were doing their things, (eating, sleeping, thinking, etc.), and I was starting to doze off myself. This was a quiet day in the shop. We had experienced days where almost ten humans were taken away. I was just closing my eyes when Someone started yelling right behind me in us women's cage.
"Hey! watch it woman!"
"Excuse me? What the heck did I do? Get in your space bubble?"
I sat up and whipped around to see that two of the younger adult women were fighting, and all eyes were on them. It seemed to be a petty, stress-induced argument, but they were getting fairly hostile.

"You think I'm kidding here? Stay in your place."
"Like this?!"
The the shorter lady punched the other in the ribs; not hard, but oh man, she was pissed off now.
The taller woman slapped her back, and they were rolling on the sand in about three seconds. I wasn't sure what to do, and two other women rushed in to break it up, but the alien store owner was faster. It made a screeching noise, ripping the lid off of our cage and pulling the two women apart, who yelped in fear/surprise. Everyone froze. The shopkeeper lifted them out of the tank and put them each in separate, tiny boxes. Like, these boxes were four and two feet at the base and about 7 feet high. Tiny. With a huff, the alien shut the tops and picked up the boxes the two women were now in, which were clear-sided. It seemed angry, but was also looking them over for any damage. It didn't find much, as the ladies had only exchanged a couple blows, but it was still mad nevertheless, and gave each one a shake in the box, producing a yell, before practically dropping their boxes back into the shelf that the big cage was on.
Everyone was shocked. Nobody moved or said anything, but one thought crossed my mind. I need to get out. Who knows how much damage an angry shop keeper might do to us?
The shopkeeper was bending down under the shelves to grab something else when I realized the lid on our tank was still off.
Without even considering the ramifications, I quickly and quietly ran to the feed trough, climbed up on it, and jumped to grab the top rim of the cage; but I couldn't pull myself up the rest of the way. Time was of the essence, and I glanced over at the shopkeeper, panicked. It was still preoccupied, and then one of the ladies in the cage came up behind me and gave me a shove. I was able to hop over the rim, and let myself drop a few feet down to the shelf. It seemed the other woman was coming with me, as she followed suit. The two ladies trapped in the small clear boxes stayed silent, watching us. I wanted to help get them out, but I had no time or any idea how. The other woman and I quickly scampered over to one of the poles supporting the shelves. She clambered over the shelf edge and slid down it, and I followed. The pole was really thick, of course, so it took good effort to not fall off.
Just as I thought we were home free (I have no idea where we would've gone though) the other woman gasped, and I realized our critical mistake. We had slid down to the shelf below ours, which was right where the shop keeper was rummaging through stuff. It noticed us immediately, made that awful screeching noise again, and suddenly lashed out, and cuffed me and the other woman off the pole with a swipe of its arm. I screamed, then landed on the shelf below, which knocked the wind out of me hard. The shopkeeper seemed furious, grabbing us in its rough hands. It stared hard at me as I gasped for air after the hit. Then with one of its other hands, it grabbed my ankles and flipped me upside down. I yelped in fear, and then realized I could see the other woman. The alien was holding both of us by our ankles/feet, so she was hanging upside down too. She looked in worse shape than I, and her eyelids were fluttering a bit. The shopkeeper dumped us back into the cage, and shut the lid over us. As soon as it huffed and walked away, all the other women rushed to us, trying to figure out if we were ok.
"Did it hit you?" One asked
I was starting to breathe normally again.
"Yeah. Cuffed us and we hit the lower shelf."
I rolled over on the sand to check to other woman. She seemed like she would be ok, but had taken the hit a lot harder than I. Both of us had major bruising on our arms and ribs from where the alien whacked us off the pole, as well as where we hit when we landed.
"Are you okay?"
She wheezed a bit.
"Yeah, I'll be fine."
Someone helped me up and another woman helped my impromptu escape attempt partner get herself some water. The men had been watching the whole scene as well, but hadn't said anything. I looked over at the two women who had been fighting. They looked frightened and uncomfortable in the tiny boxes, and also disappointed that the escape attempt had gone wrong.
I sipped some water, then sat down in the sand and cried.