Picture Perfect

For as long as this mosaic stands, I lie immobile. I never should have come down here because now, now I’m cursed to stare up into this nothingness forever. I can’t move, I can’t blink, I can’t breathe. An invisible force keeps me still; no matter how my eyes burn, I cannot shut them. Like the scream frozen in my throat, my lungs burn for the breath I will never breathe again.

How long have I been here? I don’t know. I don’t know.

I’m not dead; I’m not alive.

Just trapped.

{Honorable mention in 2014 Scholastic Awards}