My world has changed.

All I see are the four walls surrounding me and they grow closer every second.  I shiver, and the loneliness and dread emanate from me in waves of dark shadows.  How did I get here?  Is there any way out?  As much as I long to escape, I’m unable to move.  My body is heavy and I sink into the ground.

I drift in and out, my eyes opening and closing in languid consistency.

Someone stands above me.

“Do you know why you’re here?”

His voice comes from far away and I try to answer, but my eyes close again. When they drift open, I’m alone.  Where am I?  How do I escape?

The thoughts swirl around my head, chasing each other across my drifting vision.  I reach out to catch them but my hand closes around nothing.

He’s back with the same question.

My mouth moves, but no sound comes out, so I shake my head.

“Do you remember what happened?

A bright light shatters my vision and I’m falling into darkness.

**

Someone is screaming.

I look in all directions and finally see some light coming in through a window.  The screaming voice is coming from a girl kneeling by the window, rocking back and forth. I move closer and realize the window is shattered and the glass covers the ground.  I’m closer now.  I see a piece of glass in her hand and she’s covered in blood.

“Hey, stop doing that!”  I reach forward to grab the glass.

She looks up at me and my world shatters.

**

My eyes open and I’m back in the room with the four walls.  I feel tears falling from my eyes, dripping down my neck.  I lift my arms to wipe them away and I finally see.  Bandages cover both my arms but my memory has returned.  Before the bandages covered them, I remember making each cut with precise dread; indelible marks that can never be forgotten.

When the man returns, I answer his question with resigned futility.

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#LyricalFictionFriday is brought to us by Simply Marquessa. The lyric prompt she chose was: “I’m living in an empty room, with all the windows smashed…” from the song Walking on Broken Glass by Annie Lennox.

Just Jot It January is hosted by Linda G. Hill.  The word prompt for today is “indelible” brought to us by Ruth at Image and Word.