Everything was dark.
I kept blinking but nothing would change. It was utterly black, devoid of light. I raised my hand to cover my mouth and nose, trying muffle the sounds of my sobs. I'm scared.
I'm so so scared. I don't know where I am.
I remember seeing my dad. He was coming at me. He'd been drinking...I fell back..
I don't know where I am.
The side of my head was pounding and when I touched it, a jolt of pain passed through me. I groaned. It had also been wet. My hair was sticking to my scalp...
Blood. It was blood.
I bit my lip, trying not to scream and fumbled around, touching everything around me. My hand met a cold hard surface. There was stuff under me, bagged, I think. It felt like plastic. It was around me and I finally noticed how awful it smelt. I gagged.
I was in a dumpster. Someone put me in a dumpster.
I kept touching the edge of the dumpster,following it until I found a corner. I sat there, listening to my own breath..It was so loud. I hugged my knees to my chest and cried.
I don't know for how long. I don't know how long I stayed there but my stomach had stopped hurting me and I was no longer hungry. I had lost my voice and my throat was dry. I still couldn't see and I wouldn't let myself think of the word.
Blind. No, No, No, it couldn't be. It wasn't for forever. It wasn't.
I just stayed in that corner. Silent.
After a while though, I heard a voice.
My hands clenched around my knees as I pulled them closer to myself, trying to make myself smaller, less noticeable. I held my breath, more afraid than I had been before.
It was a man's voice but I couldn't distinguish what he was saying. It was getting closer.
Something above me creaked and I suddenly felt cold air. I shivered.
"--Yeah, I know stream starts in a couple minutes but I will fucking die if don't get th--" The voice screamed. I turned my head towards the noise,"WHAT THE FUCK", it said. He. He said.
I heard a barely audible "Cry?! CRY! Are you okay?" coming from the phone. Well, I think it was a phone. It didn't seem loud enough for it to have been an actual person.
There was silence for a long while. The person on the phone kept talking.
Then the voice, which had gotten much closer said, "Uhh...Russ? I'mma have to call you back", then I heard a faint beep. Something heavy also fell to the ground, making a dull thump sound. I figured it was the person's garbage.
I was in a freaking dumpster after all. I could feel my eyes start to tear up and I closed my eyes and bowed my head down.
I heard a clang from the outside, then something jarred the dumpster as the thing, I mean person, loudly landed on garbage, cussing wildly.
"If this is one of those fucking pranks, I'm going to kill someone," I heard that voice mutter. I looked up again and it was silent.
Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder.
I screamed and tried to back away, but I couldn't. I was already against one of the walls of the dumpster. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
"Hey! Whoa! It's okay! It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you. Hey, calm down." The hand quickly disappeared. I snarled up at the general direction of the voice. He was silent for a while, then visibly rattled he said " ..See? I let go. It's fine. You're okay."
I sensed something moving close to my face. He swore.
"...Can you see me?"
I bit my lip, not wanting to answer. It would make it true if I answered. I felt more tears well up and spill down my cheeks. I gripped my legs tighter, so much so that my nails were digging into my flesh. I closed my eyes and sighed shakily.
The fact that I said it or not didn't really matter. It happened. It's what I live to live with now and the sooner I accepted it, the better. Lying here in denial for so long had done me no good.
I shook my head no.
"Okay" I heard muttered, probably to himself. "Okay", a bit louder, to me this time. " Kid, I'm going to get you out of here and I'm going to get you help." He sounded determined. I heard a bit of shuffling and suddenly the warm, smooth voice was night next to me. " Can you stand by yourself?"
I had no idea. Good question, Mystery Man.
And apparently, I could, with the help of the dumpster wall. A sudden gust of wind rippled through my hair as I did stand up. I shivered, gripping the edge of the dumpster. I heard some more shuffling and suddenly I was embraced in warm fabric.
He had given me his hoodie. Well, it felt like a hoodie. Well, it had a hood.
I heard another clang, something probably landing on the ground and unexpectedly the voice was now outside of the dumpster, right in front of me.
"I'm going to pick you up now and get you out of there,okay?" I nodded and raised my hands up like I used to when I wanted to be picked up as a kid. I felt warm hands at my sides and my foot hit the dumpster wall as I was taken out of it.
I expected him to let me go after that but he just gently put me down for a second before I was in his arms again. He was warm. I let my head lean on his chest as he starting walking somewhere. I felt him tighten his grip on my side and the back of my leg so that I wouldn't fall.
I closed my eyes, as tears welled up again, this time out of relief then out of fear.
"Thank you", I croaked out, my voice hoarse from misuse. Then everything faded to black.
