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Voices

"La la la la laaaaaa, I can't hear you, I can't hear you," she plugs her ears with her fingers and squeezes her eyes shut. "Tick tock, tick tock," she sobs into her knees as her fingers and ears numb from all the pressure. "Please stop. Just. Stop!" She had raised her voice without meaning to. Her eyes snapped open and she slowly retracted her hand from her ears.

Silence. Good, she thought. Silence is good, right?

Crash!

Her hands almost immediately flew to her ears as she went back to her fetal position while forcing her eyes closed. "Please," she whispered through tears.

No one could hear her of course, for no one was in the room with her. She was alone, on her bedroom floor, crying her heart out for two people she desperately cared for. But did they care back? Of course they did....right? Well, if they did, they wouldn't do this to her. They would see how much this is affecting her and stop. But no, they see right through it. They're like children: self-absorbed and always engaging in petty arguments.

She feels the vibration of a knock at her door. She quickly recomposes herself and wipes away any tears as she opens the door for her brother.

"Here's your pencil," he hands her a pencil she doesn't recognize at first but by the time she could get a word out, he's climbing down the stairs, leaving her alone once again.

She locks her door and slides onto her bed but her brain is still not calm. It's rushing. It's creating havoc in her thoughts. It's telling her to do things that a sane person won't do. And with control as thin as thread, she gives in. She gives in to the insanity.

She throws the pencil across the room and holds her head in her hands as her whole body crashes onto the floor. She sobs violently but her madness takes over as she tries to claw at every muscle in her body. She has an itching urge to smash her head against the metal bed post. She doesn't want to. She doesn't want to go mad. So with every ounce of control she has left, she compromises with her madness and bangs her head against the floor with a sense of defeat.

Can no one else hear them? The noise of their constant bickering has embedded into her brain like a terrible song stuck in one's head. She can't get them out of there and it's driving her insane. Do they not see what they're doing to her?