Wellspring Children

Finale: A Nightmare, Wide Awake

The moment a bird breaks out of its shell, it is met with freedom. Though limited at first, as it grows older and matures, it will spread its wings and soar beautifully through the air. They are meant to be free, yet some are trapped in cages. Though they yearn for the independence of flight, their wings have been stripped away. The sky appears too small to a bird within a cell. It is only by breaking free that they can fly high away back to their home in the sky. What good is a tool that has lost its purpose? What is the point of something that is able to do absolutely nothing? And most importantly... why would one willingly trade freedom for the chains of imprisonment?

--

There I was in the middle of that horrid place... that one small area that would mark the beginning of my new life. I woke up in an old, torn apart room with no light except the sunlight peeking from underneath a rusted, metal door. The door was lifted only a few inches from the ground, not even enough for a person to fit their arm through. Above it was a broken digital clock with a shattered screen and the numbers stuck on four, thirty-nine. The walls around me were made of bricks and had shredded wallpaper just barely clinging on to them. The ambience of the room was enough to send chills down my spine. I was scared and completely alone.

Ever since I was young I have had this paranoid feeling that I was always being watched. I could never sleep in pitch black rooms because of my irrational fear of the dark and being by myself. In all honesty, I don't know what in particular scared me about it, but that fear has stuck with me, even though I'm sixteen years old now...

I did nothing but sit there in the center of the room. I tried not to think of anything that would make me feel scared or uncomfortable, but to no effect. I felt completely vulnerable just sitting right there in the middle with the light shining directly on me. Without so much as a second to think, I hastily scurried to the darkest corner of the room and put my back against it, sitting in what almost looked like a fetal position. Of course, that only seemed to worsen my anxiety.

So many thoughts clouded my mind to the point that even focusing on one was nearly impossible. Why me? I thought. Why am I here? I never wanted this! At that point I began slowly losing all control of my body. My heart was pounding like an earthquake, my entire body felt an alarming mixture of high and low temperatures, soon enough, my breathing got so uneven and heavy that my chest started to hurt, worst of all, tears began to drip down my face as I sat in that nightmarish corner doing nothing but trembling and feeling the surrounding hopeless void of shadows that seemed to veil my eyes. There's nothing I can do... What do they want with me? What if I never get out? I don't want to die!!!

I didn't have the slightest memory of how I got there. The last thing I remembered was a normal, lonely day at school. My life was miserable before. I didn't have many friends, my grades started to drop because of my inability to stay focused, and to top it off, I was being bullied. But even all of that was infinitely better than what I am feeling now.

My unsteady breath echoed on the walls around me. Sweat started to form around my head and I could tell that I was on the verge of passing out. I tried to keep myself together with everything I had, but the oppressive aura of the darkness in the air made the pressure almost unbearable. I couldn't take it anymore... I used what little strength I had left in me to cry out into the dark. "HELP ME!!! SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, JUST PLEASE SAVE ME!!!"

My calls for help soon became nothing but reverberations on the walls as they were answered by nothing but a harsh silence. My eyes began to close again. Instantly, the light faded to black, and the black to oblivion. My head fell back against the wall and my legs and arms went limp as I lost my grip on my consciousness.

--

In time, I awakened once again. I felt cold, and was covered in sweat. Before I opened my eyes, I told myself, Please let that just be a bad dream... Please just tell me I'm still in my bed at home and I can go back to my normal life... Reluctantly, I lifted my eyelids. Of course all that begging didn't change a thing. I was in the same place as before. That same corner... I put my hands on my head in disappointment. Of course... just my luck.