Short Stories

Breakaway

(Inspired by Speak)
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"I am getting better at smiling when
people expect it."
-Melinda Sordino, Speak
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Delilah holds her head in her hands as tears and sweat glisten across her face, leaving her eyes red and puffy. She tugs on her hair in anguish as she watches her life fall apart. There's nothing she can do but sit back and watch it fall to pieces around her. It's as if there is a dark hole she is trapped in and has no way out of it. The hole contains all the pain and heartache of her past, the tears she shed for her loved ones, and the guilt of all her wrongdoings.
No one is aware that Delilah is trapped because of the bright smile that lights up her face everywhere she goes. They aren't even aware that the bright smile is nothing but a fake. Delilah is believed to be happy and healthy when, in reality, she is actually depressed and broken. The dark hole that Delilah is trapped inside of grows bigger each day, leaving Delilah to cry for help only to have no one hear her cry.
The dark hole seems to laugh at her and taunt her as she tries to get out. Black chains wrap tightly around her wrists, binding her to the misery she's stuck in. She climbs the sides and makes it to the top where she can feel the warm sunshine beating down on her hands before she is pulled back down into the wicked, dark hole by the chains on her wrists. She continues to cry out and scream for help, but it falls on deaf ears. No one is around to help.
Delilah curls up into a ball at the bottom of the hole and cries. Tears streak her face as she lets the raw emotions of pain be heard to whoever will listen, but even then, no one hears. She cries and screams for someone just to hear her; to know that she is trapped, but no one hears. All she wants is someone just to hear her out. That's all she wants! No one hears her. She closes her eyes and sobs at the bottom of the hole. What's the use if no one will listen?
Delilah opens her eyes to see a dagger levitating in front of her eyes, tempting her to hold it. Tears continue to fall down her face as she grabs a hold of the dagger's handle and holds it in front of her. The dark hole laughs and taunts her, calling her a failure. She closes her eyes once more before bringing the dagger closer to her skin. It's so close to her skin that she can feel the cold metal.
No! Delilah thinks as she pulls the dagger away from her precious skin. This isn't right. Delilah drops the dagger as if it was a fiery blaze instead of the cold metal it is. The dagger hits the ground with a plop, echoing throughout the darkness. The dark hole stops it taunting once it hears the sound of the dagger dropping to the ground. Delilah stands up from the ground and wipes her face to rid of the tears.
"Dark hole, you have caused me pain and heartache, but no more will you control my life!" Delilah yells into the darkness. The dark hole laughs a hearty laugh.
"Is that so?" it asks in a menacing tone. "Child, you should know that you can't escape my hold. It simply just can't be done." Delilah takes a step forward; closer to the darkness that used to torture her.
"Nothing is impossible," she whispers as she breaks the chains on her wrists and climbs the wall. She runs far away from the dark hole as soon as she is free from it's wretched grasp. The dark hole yells from behind her.
"I'll be back for you!" it yells as she runs away, but Delilah knows that it will be hard for it to get its dirty grasp on her. She has broken away from depression's hold once, and she'll breakaway from it again.