#Wattpadcontest One bed...one emotion...one heartbreak... ---- Living in just one room, being locked up between its bland walls and holding my breaths for moments when the creaking bed from behind me would finally find a way to pull me back and have me completely entrapped in its tangles of misery.

-A strange silhouette of a woman was staring down at her with a huge smirk- Family moments, bonding; Maira was standing in the midst of a crowded, ancient market when suddenly the air grew silent and everyone around her vanished into an echo of silence. She gazed around in confusion and then looked up in caution, gasping at the sight of a woman's silhouette staring down from an apartment building before her. It was too dark, but she could see the woman softly beckoning her to listen, to come up...

-Her four-year-old sister was different- "Why is she holding up a knife?" "Maybe she likes knives." My friend shrugged, getting a well-deserved glare from me. "She is four!" "I know. It is awesome how she has already figured out what she wants to do in life." "Kill?" I raised an eyebrow, unamused. "Cook." She grinned widely. *** My baby sister was different. I sensed it the first time I caught her smiling at the sight of me burning my hand while heating her milk bottle-she had rejoiced and clapped giddily. My mom claimed this was how babies reacted. I wasn't convinced. I tried to hide my grimace when she managed to chase away the hognose snake hiding in our garden and stopped myself from bolting when she started to share her food with her imaginary friend who apparently lived in our attic and slept under her bed. She had apparently befriended a monster! Nope! Nope! Not going there! So when my mother and father decided to leave me in charge for the night, while they visited my sick grandmother, I knew I needed backup. (Lately, inflation and the post-covid era have been hitting hard, so I decided to write something light and sweet to uplift our moods. I am not at all skilled at writing comedy, yet this is an effort.)

-I am scared. I am terrified of seeing another back turned towards me- I saw it. It was my aunt who paid the price of my uncle having an iron fist. It was my friend who became mentally insane. It was my cousin who held my hand on her deathbed while muttering for her absent husband to show up. I saw it all, and I promised myself to never become a victim---until I did. He wanted me to stay. I didn't want to be imprisoned. He wanted me to listen. I didn't want to wait. He was a victim of childhood abandonment, left behind because his parents felt too embarrassed to keep him. I was traumatized by the fall of my loved ones who had offered their hearts on fancy platters. It was a game of push and pull until I saw him smiling at another. He was my storm, yet I wasn't brave enough to seek him for shelter. I wanted to be given trust, instead of snatching it. I had seen the falls, the downs, and now, I was just too tired to deal with the tragic results. --- Turned Back is a heartbreaking story about strangers falling in love. It is to be read as a standalone.