From Eli's contest, PICTURE PROMPT.
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwgkucaBQ9y
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMZ44Xi4u23
tw: blood, mentions of death
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNv5ka3reSC
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrSrjMhdUzN
I think I am no longer in a dream.
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwXFWg1zdeI
I am trapped. I am aware. I can smell a putrefying odor flooding the cave, strangling my lungs. I can hear reverberations of demons taunting me endlessly, forcing me to smell my own near death. There are three others in the central cave, none of them I recognize: a man wearing all white with a scar near his left eyebrow, an old woman missing an arm, and a young boy clutching onto a rag doll. The man keeps tapping his foot on a stone, his lips dry and pursed. The young boy is seated on the ground twiddling with his doll, as if he's at home in the living room on a typical Sunday evening. The old woman is the strangest. She keeps repeating someone's name in a monotone voice, staring down at her chest. "Amy...Amy..."
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡooHTnneAla
I am too frightened to wander. I am too frightened to ask questions. So I begin to think. Is this hell? Am I already dead? I can't even remember my own name. Is this the dreadful afterlife my father warned me about? But there is no reason for me to be dead. This should only be a dream. I look down at my forest green gown which feels so. . .familiar.
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcihQBDn5La
The little boy watches me. He doesn't blink.
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrsPv2iPYPC
My feet are leading me toward him. He looks back down at his doll, which I notice is covered in brown stains. The boy's fingers dig into her petite arm. He strokes her hair with the other. I take a deep breath and kneel beside him, remaining silent. The cave is oddly hushed.
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMZnOL529xA
Finally, the words pour from my mouth. "Who are you? And where are we?" I tremble, as he doesn't react. He cradles the doll in his arms, quiet, as if trying to remember.
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeq9ZvKD5u0
The old woman is still speaking in a muffled voice. I want her to go away. My knees ache and the dress starts to itch my back. The heat steams my neck. Footsteps trickle behind me, listening closely to my wobbly breaths.
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLxlAfV2cFN
"Excuse me?"
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB4oYN6knFi
I jump to my feet, whipping around. It's the man dressed in white with a scar near his eyebrow. His foot is still tapping. "Excuse me, have you seen my daughter Amy?" Tap tap tap.
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWNZcm0ulBY
"I don't know her," I manage.
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs1LEB86UGb
He squints at me. "I recognize that dress somewhere." Tap tap tap.
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1I26UwM5B3
I look down, confused. "No, I think you're mistaken..." I begin, but that's when it struck me.
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU7K0ln4uja
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHHqOfvlsBA
"Here. I found it." Amy waved a gleaming, green dress in my face. "What do you think? Do you want it?"
My jaw dropped. "Want it?" I squealed. "I need it!" She laughed as I admired the straps, the sleeves, the color. The envy I had felt from her wealth turned into guilt."I owe you so much for this. You sure you're fine with me wearing it to the party?"
"Don't worry about it. I know you'll take good care of it anyway."
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBdcOW0KN7r
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVAF7CtEs3Y
The man shakes his head vigorously. "No. It's Amy's. She wore it to her final piano recital," he says tearfully. "And it's ruined."
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDihYNZlAGt
My mind snaps. The first thing I see are splatters of red splotched on my dress. Bright, scarlet red. Blood dripped down the hem, down my ankles to the rugged ground.
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQGIsorSQwa
"I'm sorry," I choke out. "I didn't mean to ruin it."
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuH0XQsGrzv
He leaves. The young boy clutches his doll to his chest and looks away from me.
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxvHnLgzmsi
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlp7GlApT4O
"Where are you guys going?"
Amy and I spun around to find James, her younger brother. He examined us up and down and narrowed his eyes. Of course he was suspicious. We looked like we were going to be late for a ball. I clasped my hand over my mouth, trying not to give ourselves away. "We're going to Maddy's house," Amy blurted.
"Why are you dressed like that?"
"We're playing dress-up," Amy said while I responded with "It's a secret." We smirked.
He crossed his arms. "I can keep secrets."
I opened my mouth, but Amy already leaned in. "Okay, James. The secret is — we're actually heading to the movies."
"I wanna go to the movies!"
She ruffled his hair. "Sorry. They're only playing princess movies at this hour. You don't like princess movies, do you?" Amy grabbed my hand and we sprinted to the door, giggling like lunatics. "Don't wake our parents!" she called.
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUZRQMAD9Pm
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡScyGsP8D1e
"It's your fault."
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7In3HdDtvF
My head jerks. The boy's eyes stare intently at mine. "What did you say?"
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGZu3C7lkOF
"It's all your fault," James repeats, squeezing the doll's neck. "It was your idea to go to that party."
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTsqAYsPtIE
I blink. How could he have known that?
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡag5OzXDlgj
"Amy..." The voice of the old woman echoes.
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFRyEh0c4no
The cave starts spinning. The noises tangle together until it creates an awful, nauseating noise that squeezes my skull. The sound of James' fingers scraping the floor, the woman repeating Amy's name, the man's foot tapping continuously. Tap tap tap. I stand frozen, my mouth sealed shut by the invisible tape preventing me from screaming.
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDYnkptAjgF
"Madison..."
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6m2wYeeFav
I start to cry.
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7zrpycocFy
The noises halt. A dark, shadowy figure approaches from the end of the cave. He is missing a face, and his legs appear taller than I am. His feet look like they can crush me eight feet underground. "Madison," he echoes. Even the demons go silent. "Why are you still here?"
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRiCIsHriFo
"It's such a shame you torture yourself every day for that little girl." He grunts at my silence. "And you still cry. Do you think it's fair for a murderer to cry for her own victim?"
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxZIbUj6Ipu
I want to face him and speak. But I collapse onto the floor.
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRKdQeBEoeL
"You've taken a lot of lives that night," he continues, keeping his voice low. "Now the boy carries her doll to remember what is left of her. The man lost his only daughter to someone who reminded him of a second daughter. What was he supposed to feel? Her grandmother will remember the loss of her granddaughter in her last days. They will never be the same again. Do you think it's fair for a murderer to cry for her own victim?"
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ZYV10zWhJ
"I'm not a murderer." I'm barely able to whisper.
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtRHOOqRkEV
"But who was driving that night?"
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEJXiOpm4Vb
Air draws out of me as I close my eyes. Wake up. Just wake up. Please.
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcjF8xK3Lsm
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGSPaFKEVrn
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGUGwq2FzXl
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0L92boQWYz
Sweat trickles down my warm neck. I can hear my heart hammering, unsteadily beating. Another dark room, but it's my own. But I'm not sure if I'm still dreaming. It's still a blur. I'm barely alert. Despite my fatigue, I strive to stay awake. I kick the covers off my body and reach for my phone. 3:57 AM. I wonder if there will ever be a day when I wouldn't be afraid to sleep.
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj4cmmD3lXi
"How was your sleep last night?" my mother would ask with genuine concern.
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtlQDI2xfG5
"A lot better," I would reply. I imagine myself straining an assuring smile, clutching my bag.
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3R26zYTQbw
"Maddy, you don't have to go to school today if you don't want to."
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNS4ExD2ypg
"I'm fine."
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBIO5lD4qyB
Only a few more hours until the day replays.
ns216.73.216.246da2
然後按「加至主畫面」