They were staring at me through the basement window, steady in the eyes and sorrowful in the soul.  Their gaze never left mine through the pane of glass.  There was a silent request washed with resignation.

Why had these lives soured in the depths?  Why weren’t my new friends scampering across the lawn?  Would they have more tales to tell their loved ones, or was this the end? 

I looked back, from the inside to the outside.  Small kindred spirits stood motionless as they made my acquaintance.  Was there something to do or should I turn away and proceed with my human endeavours?

I felt drawn to the world without walls.  My apparatus sat still in the garage and I motioned it to my hand.  Soon I was on the green grass at that very window.  There was a squeezing and a lifting … and we were all free.