From Eli's contest, PICTURE PROMPT.
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHFQhkVPzC4
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2WH321u79E
tw: blood, mentions of death
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtpJra39I0d
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6t9ELLu9g
I think I am no longer in a dream.
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1kwAztrKcR
I am trapped. I am aware. I can smell a putrefying odor flooding the cave, strangling my lungs. I can hear reverberations of demons taunting me endlessly, forcing me to smell my own near death. There are three others in the central cave, none of them I recognize: a man wearing all white with a scar near his left eyebrow, an old woman missing an arm, and a young boy clutching onto a rag doll. The man keeps tapping his foot on a stone, his lips dry and pursed. The young boy is seated on the ground twiddling with his doll, as if he's at home in the living room on a typical Sunday evening. The old woman is the strangest. She keeps repeating someone's name in a monotone voice, staring down at her chest. "Amy...Amy..."
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrdh5SrZqZ3
I am too frightened to wander. I am too frightened to ask questions. So I begin to think. Is this hell? Am I already dead? I can't even remember my own name. Is this the dreadful afterlife my father warned me about? But there is no reason for me to be dead. This should only be a dream. I look down at my forest green gown which feels so. . .familiar.
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ21YCGWiyf1
The little boy watches me. He doesn't blink.
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPJW5UIahw
My feet are leading me toward him. He looks back down at his doll, which I notice is covered in brown stains. The boy's fingers dig into her petite arm. He strokes her hair with the other. I take a deep breath and kneel beside him, remaining silent. The cave is oddly hushed.
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9gogHcBJHz
Finally, the words pour from my mouth. "Who are you? And where are we?" I tremble, as he doesn't react. He cradles the doll in his arms, quiet, as if trying to remember.
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhaaBdTiGHM
The old woman is still speaking in a muffled voice. I want her to go away. My knees ache and the dress starts to itch my back. The heat steams my neck. Footsteps trickle behind me, listening closely to my wobbly breaths.
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS2QggfMRyB
"Excuse me?"
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYlVWrBCt4q
I jump to my feet, whipping around. It's the man dressed in white with a scar near his eyebrow. His foot is still tapping. "Excuse me, have you seen my daughter Amy?" Tap tap tap.
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQC1txpdRWe
"I don't know her," I manage.
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEXkbY3OTmK
He squints at me. "I recognize that dress somewhere." Tap tap tap.
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Ly2GWNzZY
I look down, confused. "No, I think you're mistaken..." I begin, but that's when it struck me.
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEvQRm0ZLG3
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoJTu7V8PuM
"Here. I found it." Amy waved a gleaming, green dress in my face. "What do you think? Do you want it?"
My jaw dropped. "Want it?" I squealed. "I need it!" She laughed as I admired the straps, the sleeves, the color. The envy I had felt from her wealth turned into guilt."I owe you so much for this. You sure you're fine with me wearing it to the party?"
"Don't worry about it. I know you'll take good care of it anyway."
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7erl45hyfc
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTpz6mslUU
The man shakes his head vigorously. "No. It's Amy's. She wore it to her final piano recital," he says tearfully. "And it's ruined."
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdun9wRILOC
My mind snaps. The first thing I see are splatters of red splotched on my dress. Bright, scarlet red. Blood dripped down the hem, down my ankles to the rugged ground.
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAbNUxZ9ePc
"I'm sorry," I choke out. "I didn't mean to ruin it."
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH6ld0fzmFA
He leaves. The young boy clutches his doll to his chest and looks away from me.
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5MY4V6ZxRT
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGYKHDeRTHl
"Where are you guys going?"
Amy and I spun around to find James, her younger brother. He examined us up and down and narrowed his eyes. Of course he was suspicious. We looked like we were going to be late for a ball. I clasped my hand over my mouth, trying not to give ourselves away. "We're going to Maddy's house," Amy blurted.
"Why are you dressed like that?"
"We're playing dress-up," Amy said while I responded with "It's a secret." We smirked.
He crossed his arms. "I can keep secrets."
I opened my mouth, but Amy already leaned in. "Okay, James. The secret is — we're actually heading to the movies."
"I wanna go to the movies!"
She ruffled his hair. "Sorry. They're only playing princess movies at this hour. You don't like princess movies, do you?" Amy grabbed my hand and we sprinted to the door, giggling like lunatics. "Don't wake our parents!" she called.
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡje0uuA8iJg
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ObqYyer7n
"It's your fault."
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh78KHFSHyj
My head jerks. The boy's eyes stare intently at mine. "What did you say?"
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXWjBdhHuee
"It's all your fault," James repeats, squeezing the doll's neck. "It was your idea to go to that party."
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRepBaiFNRN
I blink. How could he have known that?
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQYKUdels8s
"Amy..." The voice of the old woman echoes.
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEFpOA7Ouzk
The cave starts spinning. The noises tangle together until it creates an awful, nauseating noise that squeezes my skull. The sound of James' fingers scraping the floor, the woman repeating Amy's name, the man's foot tapping continuously. Tap tap tap. I stand frozen, my mouth sealed shut by the invisible tape preventing me from screaming.
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKnYKOPPx3t
"Madison..."
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyzd4mNb2nu
I start to cry.
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqxRhRm30Di
The noises halt. A dark, shadowy figure approaches from the end of the cave. He is missing a face, and his legs appear taller than I am. His feet look like they can crush me eight feet underground. "Madison," he echoes. Even the demons go silent. "Why are you still here?"
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvnG60LMkUV
"It's such a shame you torture yourself every day for that little girl." He grunts at my silence. "And you still cry. Do you think it's fair for a murderer to cry for her own victim?"
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXxpXlHPH05
I want to face him and speak. But I collapse onto the floor.
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡan9H0o4ODI
"You've taken a lot of lives that night," he continues, keeping his voice low. "Now the boy carries her doll to remember what is left of her. The man lost his only daughter to someone who reminded him of a second daughter. What was he supposed to feel? Her grandmother will remember the loss of her granddaughter in her last days. They will never be the same again. Do you think it's fair for a murderer to cry for her own victim?"
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzBIIqESmvf
"I'm not a murderer." I'm barely able to whisper.
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZP9ywHDXq6
"But who was driving that night?"
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPSBNPmmSYA
Air draws out of me as I close my eyes. Wake up. Just wake up. Please.
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNLLOYT7BFA
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiF9MJe4pD9
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxlD0OU4b51
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqVmDKoHjZu
Sweat trickles down my warm neck. I can hear my heart hammering, unsteadily beating. Another dark room, but it's my own. But I'm not sure if I'm still dreaming. It's still a blur. I'm barely alert. Despite my fatigue, I strive to stay awake. I kick the covers off my body and reach for my phone. 3:57 AM. I wonder if there will ever be a day when I wouldn't be afraid to sleep.
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBkkCcBxquC
"How was your sleep last night?" my mother would ask with genuine concern.
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvdCXTSzY8D
"A lot better," I would reply. I imagine myself straining an assuring smile, clutching my bag.
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡroRgtn1x3w
"Maddy, you don't have to go to school today if you don't want to."
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEavxU6BQsJ
"I'm fine."
421Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1gomXOBU4V
Only a few more hours until the day replays.
ns216.73.216.108da2
