𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐍 (𝟏)

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟒𝟎

"I want you to start focusing on controlling larger bodies of water now, Isadora." Kimberly tells me, her voice cold and firm, as usual.

I should be used to it by now, given the amount of time I see her a week, But I just can't shake off the terrified feeling I have for this woman.

I thought I would feel safe with the woman who rescued me and is supposedly leading me to rescue more people like me. Only I fear this woman more than I feel safe. And for that reason I stand extra tall when I'm around her, I avoid eye-contact, I even hold my breath sometimes.

I almost suffocated myself once. It was embarrassing, but I hid it well—I hope.

That's just sad.

You're just sad.

Burn.

I ignore the voice in my head that only seems to be getting louder and louder each day I spend under the blaring sun. Luckily the sun isn't as bad nowadays as fall creeps on closer and closer everyday. I can't help the rush of excitement at just the thought of fall.

The days becoming darker and colder. Red and gold auburn leaves littering the ground to be crunched underneath my feet. The chill in a breeze that always sends a shiver down your spine, and then the frost that collects on the grass overnight. It's my favorite season, It's not too hot nor is it too cold.

I could jump in excitement at just the thought.

"Isadora." My excitement exits the same way it entered just as the cold terrifying voice cuts through the air, and my mind. I shake my head, forcing a small smile onto my face. "Yes?" I manage.

"Did you hear me?" She asks, her annoyance with me evident in her voice and cold stare. I swallow the lump in my throat and Nod. "Uh, Yes."

She gives me a hard look with a hint of suspicion in the squint of her eyes; She finally relents and nods, exhaling a sharp breath. "Good, I'll provide you with a larger amount of water for our next session, and then we will go on with things from there." She says, already moving for the path ahead.

I nod, fiddling my with my fingers anxiously. "Okay, Got it." I say, more to myself than her since she doesn't really listen.

She clears her throat before nodding, her posture concerningly straight with her hands held behind her back. She peers over her shoulder. "I'll be on my way, I won't wait for you then."

"Okay, Bye." I wave, she completely ignores me as she strides down the gravel path; Her step long and confident. I exhale the breath I knew I was holding, My shoulders slumping automatically.

I hate this feeling. The pressure that's constantly weighing on my shoulders, The need to reach her tower of expectations. Sometimes it gets to be too much.

To the point I wish the world would break in half and I would fall through one of the cracks; To be forever hidden in the deepest depths of the earths structure, because then the only pressure I would feel down there would be the walls of the world crushing my body.