Blue Moon

One

The loud click of a cell door creaking open snaps Sage out of her deep thoughts as she remains seated in her excuse of a bed.

"Sage Moon, it's time." The lady says from the door. The lady being one of the secretaries who spends most of the time seated at the front desk of the asylum.

Sage musters up enough breath to carelessly sigh in response.

"For?" She shoots the lady a confused look, keeping her knees pulled closely to her chest as she sits. After all, it was 10 pm on a Wednesday, what could they possibly be bugging her for at this time?

The whole asylum shuts down for the night at 8:30, locking every patient in their rooms for the night. Which is why it was so unusual for anyone to barge into Sage's room at this hour.

The lady furrows her eyebrows, as if Sage should know why, but she doesn't.

"For your release, don't you remember?" She says slowly. Sage is caught off guard by the sentence. She had forgotten the date of her release long ago as she lost track of the days.

"You were supposed to be released at noon today but.." She stops, looking to the ground.

"Nobody came to get you." She finishes.

Sage keeps her eyes glued to the turquoise sheets gathered at the end of her bed. She really should be sad upon hearing this. Upset that nobody came to get her. That she was forgotten.

But quite honestly, it's nothing Sage isn't already used to. So the brunette isn't fazed at all.

"So um.. It says in the contract that if nobody comes to retrieve you on your release day by 10 pm, and if you are legally an adult, we just have to kinda.. let you go." The lady continues on.

Sage remembers that she is in fact legally an adult. She had nearly forgotten she was 18 since her most recent birthday occurred while locked up in this place, and nobody celebrates birthdays in here.

Sage returns her gaze to the lady who still stands in the doorway of the room.

"So.. you're just letting me go?" Sage asks, her eyebrows pinching together in question, as the lady nods in response.

"You sound unsure.. do you not want to leave?" The lady asks kindly. And to this, Sage shrugs.

It's been 10 months since she had lived in the outside world. Slept in her own bed, attended her own classes.

Not that she'd even go to her classes anyways.

Sage had been living under intense supervision in this asylum for so long, she had forgotten what life was like before.

Well, not entirely forgotten.

Of course she remembers how horrible it was. Hopping between foster families like a frog hops between water lilies. Waking up every morning just to relive the same boring, awful, aggravating, exhausting day over and over and over.

She didn't have time to ever make solid friends. Probably because she rarely showed up to school, typically where most friendships are made. She never had a true family since her birth parents abandoned her after being born. She often spent her days getting high and moping around. She'd get intoxicated to forget about her problems, even though she had been creating more while doing so.

It's safe to say her life has never been great.

Sage was always more sad or angry then she was happy. Some would call it depression, but Sage never liked that label. She always thought of 'depression' as someone who cries every night and occasionally introduces a sharp blade to their skin.