The Stories

The Definition of Insanity

~

They call it delusion. I call it reality.

They call them my imagination. I call them my friends.

They try to give me medication. But really . . . it's just poison.

~

"Sarah, have you taken your meds?" The nurse, Mrs. Janine, popped her head through the door.

I remain silent with my head in my knees. I can hear her sigh. I'm guessing that she saw the pills and water still sitting on my nightstand. "Sarah . . . it's the third consecutive night that you've refused to take your medication, you must-"

"NO!" I interrupted her.

She stood in silence, looking me directly in the eyes. "Alright then." She steps out of the cell and shuts the door, making sure to lock it.

I raise my head from its place on my knees and sigh heavily. That was new, she didn't even try to argue with me this time. I grab the cup and smash it against the wall, projecting pieces of broken glass everywhere.

I know they're going to hear that.

With this thought in mind, I take the pills in my hand and flush them quickly.

5 doctors rush in along with Mrs. Janine. The first doctor grabs my left arm and pulls it behind my back. I struggled against him and thrashed my remaining limbs about, kicking one of the doctors in the groin. He puts his hand over my mouth to muffle my screams, and I bit him.

I feel a sharp pain in my neck.

Suddenly all of my muscles grow too tired to continue fighting. I look directly in the eyes of the doctor holding the syringe, and I shake my head. He mouths a silent 'I'm sorry' to me, as he catches my head from hitting the concrete floor.

I wouldn't ever accept his apology.

Especially since . . .

That doctor was my brother.

__________

I woke up in a blindingly bright room.

He was there.

Jeff.

"River." His deep smooth voice welcomes me. He called me by my middle name, he knew I hated my first. "You put up a good fight out there."

"I just wanted to do everything I could to avoid taking those, those . . . pills."

"You did the right thing. They were trying to poison you, River." He takes a step towards me. "It's such a shame you couldn't just come with me, we could get out of this place."

My eyes widen. "How? How can I come with you? How can I get out of here?!"

He smiles softly. "It's simple really." He raises a pale hand and points to my left. I look over and see . . . A knife?! I return my gaze to him. "Just one cut to your neck and," he snaps his fingers, ". . .out like a light."

"But Jeff, I don't want to die! I'm only 17! I have a life to live, ya know?"

"You can't live like this, River." He speaks calmly. "Not in this . . . What do they call it, an asylum? It's not the right life. You can do better."

"I know I can, but I don't want to end my life. I have a family . . ."

"A family who obviously didn't love you, otherwise they wouldn't have put you here." He takes another step closer to me. "You can escape. You can join me. Together we will run, far far away from here."

"Wait, so . . . you're saying I have to kill myself to get out of here?" I gaped at him. Slowly, he began fading away. "Wait! Jeff! I still have so many questions! What if I don't want to?" He shook his head at me, and then disappeared completely. "Jeff! JEFF!"

___________

I woke up in a blindingly bright room.

He was there.

My brother.

"Sarah . . ." He sighed. "You were talking in your sleep again. Jeff was there, apparently." He shook his head.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "What do you mean? I wasn't asleep just now . . . was I?" I looked around, I was in the same room as before. My brother, Kevin, was standing in the same place as Jeff stood. "How . . . ?"

Kevin sighed again. "See what I mean?" He muttered to himself.

"What'd you say?" I demanded. He shook his head again and laughed. "That's what I thought."

"You always have been the violent one, Sarah." He smiled to himself. "That's what I loved about you."

"What do you mean by loved, past tense?" I crossed my arms and glared at him.

"You've changed." He said simply, looking down and kicking imaginary dust around.

"How have I changed?! I'm still that same old Sarah River Bailey-Jones that you knew before!"

He shook his head for the third time. If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought he was a bobble head, he shakes it so much. "It's not like that. What I mean is, your mental stability has changed. It really hasn't affected your personality." I was about to scold him about going all doctorish on me, when he raised his finger to silence me. "Hear me out. You talk in your sleep. Your sub conscience can no longer differentiate between dreams and real life. Your vivid imagination affects the rest of your body which results in your eyes creating the illusion that you see people that aren't there. You suffer from multiple personality disorder, so much so that priests have tried to exercise you. You're manic depressive. You talk to the air, Sarah." He counted on his fingers. "I - no we, were all worried about you. We put you here in hopes that you'd get better."

"Better? Better?! How could you say that! There is nothing wrong with me. Who's to say that I'm even 'ill'? Define 'ill' for me, Kevin." I crossed my arms.

"No, Sarah. Most mental patients are completely unaware of their condition. You are one of them." I scoffed at his statement.

"I am aware of everything. Probably more aware than you or mom will ever be. You can't just use technical terms to make me believe you. How do you even know that I'm 'mental'? What if average people's minds have a barrier that block most of what those who are 'crazy' can see? What if these 'imaginary' people that I can see aren't imaginary, and you're the one who just can't see them? Besides, brains can't create faces except those that are drawn on paper. You can't jus-" I was interrupted by Kevin exiting the room. "YOU JUST AREN'T WILLING TO ACCEPT THE TRUTH!!" I screamed after him. I watched as he looked back through the glass walls and continued walking.

"River." A deep voice cut through the air sharply. I looked to my left, and there stood Jeff, holding a knife. "Remember." And he was gone just like that. I slumped my shoulders and brought my knees up to my chest. Hugging them, I buried my face and cried.

___________________________________________

Insanity |in'sanitē|
noun

The state of being seriously mentally ill; madness: he suffered from bouts of
insanity | as complement : he attempted to plead insanity

-extreme foolishness or irrationality: it might be pure insanity to take this
loan | the insanities of our time.

___________________________________________

Hai fluffy unicorns! So there will be a second part to this I believe, but that is in the future. And I think it'll be called, The Definition of Infinity.

So anyway, I was conversing with my friend about writing, and this was her suggestion of what I would write about next lolzors

So yeah! And if you'd like to suggest a story for me to write about, pleeeaaase tell me in the comments!

*slithers away*

~Phanaconda