Reptile House

Vanessa groaned groggily as she sat up, rubbing her head. Opening her eyes slowly, the former CEO looked around her surroundings and immediately noticed three things.

Firstly, she was no longer in Dr. Jane Doe's office. She was now in some sort of box shaped room with a mulch covered floor. Three of the walls were made to look like rocks that were covered in fake vines and moss; one of them had a small waterfall that led to a small, shallow, concrete pool in the middle of the room. There was a series of small potted plants and a large artificial tree decorating the room as well.

Second, the last wall of the room was made of glass. A large window pane that separated Vanessa from what looked like a building with walls that contained glass boxes with snakes, lizards, frogs, and other creatures that made her skin crawl. Vanessa also noticed that there was a rather large crowd of people standing right outside the room she was in. Men and women standing there, pointing and laughing as they took pictures and recorded video on their phones. It was almost as if they were doing this in response to…her?

Which led Vanessa to the final thing she noticed. As she followed the crowd’s gaze, she looked down at herself…only to let out a horrified shriek as she discovered that she was butt naked! Not even a pair of shoes. The former CEO covered her chest as she hid behind one of the plants in an attempt to hide herself from the crowd.

“Stop laughing at me, you idiots!” she shrieked to the crowd as they continued laughing at her. Her! Vanessa Sinclair! “Get me out of here and give me some clothes! If someone doesn’t explain to me what’s going on here, I swear, I’m going to sue this overgrown exotic pet store for every penny it’s – “

Vanessa stopped her tirade when she saw a sign on the glass. It was backwards, but Vanessa could read it well enough to feel her stomach drop as her eyes widened in horror.

Our newest exhibit: Vanessa Sinclair, the Greedy CEO who stole millions of her employees hard earned money. We are proud to display this cold-blooded, cowardly snake alongside our other reptiles here at the Reptile House. Be sure to take plenty of pictures and video of her (as the court encourages). And don’t worry if you missed her today; you’ll have a Court Ordered twenty-five years to get your chance! Thanks for visiting the City Zoo!

Vanessa’s jaw dropped as all the color drained from her face. This was her alternative sentence?! To be put on display as some kind of zoo animal?! For twenty-five years?!

“Um…” Vanessa began as she gave a sheepish smile, looking at the audience pleadingly, “Is it too late to ask to go to prison…?”

The former CEO could only wince as she saw that this resulted in more laughter from her audience.