Raising Hell

"I starved myself but I never died. I have no idea how I survived that long without food. The floors I slept on where of moldy brick and sometimes a rat would curl up to my neck. I stopped caring. The warmth kept me sane." I took a deep breath and continued. "The worst part was not knowing. Not knowing what happened to my team. Not knowing happened to my city. I couldn't do anything but stare out the tiny slit of light from under the door. That was my life, that light. I didn't know what time of day it was but that light told me I was still alive. Without it would be darkness."

I hear her shift in her chair but stay with my eyes closed.

"I think the only thing that kept me going was the pain. It sounds strange but I loved feeling it. It made me feel alive, I still had something. It was the only thing that kept me thinking I wasn't one of the rats. Pain, I realized, was worth it. Because the pain reminded me that I was breathing and awake. And that maybe one day if I ever got out that maybe that pain would go away."