From Eli's contest, PICTURE PROMPT.
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡunjx9avQ3g
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFos4BytWRB
tw: blood, mentions of death
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19FRe3YLSF
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWttjipdjLx
I think I am no longer in a dream.
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQHcmslKQwF
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..."
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfa6HUYgH9G
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.
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCUoOdaB2wP
The little boy watches me. He doesn't blink.
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyyQJ1YSyvU
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.
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7lo6mWVpJt
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.
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIhRLwQdE4K
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.
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡImOqSC6q1s
"Excuse me?"
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdKhyjEnEnN
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.
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNceoIEuX53
"I don't know her," I manage.
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKnxRSSEruB
He squints at me. "I recognize that dress somewhere." Tap tap tap.
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQwIahnRiY1
I look down, confused. "No, I think you're mistaken..." I begin, but that's when it struck me.
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5AMSce8rvK
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnI1uWRKyv2
"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."
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdvV5WdTD3S
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpHEFUKcCaR
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."
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLY9SmXvlHX
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.
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwn3tVuVf5D
"I'm sorry," I choke out. "I didn't mean to ruin it."
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw0NmFby188
He leaves. The young boy clutches his doll to his chest and looks away from me.
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKQLhottERD
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaUcaob6pgp
"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.
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ62gGfMd3gF
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhoMK2Dxpow
"It's your fault."
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtLRon9kqQL
My head jerks. The boy's eyes stare intently at mine. "What did you say?"
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAfCiepyvwH
"It's all your fault," James repeats, squeezing the doll's neck. "It was your idea to go to that party."
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡua348AXnIJ
I blink. How could he have known that?
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtgQfZ4Qhsk
"Amy..." The voice of the old woman echoes.
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcKkvf4Tllc
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.
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7g6Ryrn7M1
"Madison..."
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjblxcXQW34
I start to cry.
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXlPl15VTiK
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?"
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLcUvkn4pBU
"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?"
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsWKXqDxm9A
I want to face him and speak. But I collapse onto the floor.
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR31wVSfcFg
"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?"
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2pFMBXlSWx
"I'm not a murderer." I'm barely able to whisper.
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXxzMmcq4M5
"But who was driving that night?"
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUeBPUW8L1
Air draws out of me as I close my eyes. Wake up. Just wake up. Please.
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU1bZH8aAfh
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRfsWLDbJG
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSFHT1wNMzR
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI4GTi61eEW
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.
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW8ZsNggaVK
"How was your sleep last night?" my mother would ask with genuine concern.
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4zM0tS45Fs
"A lot better," I would reply. I imagine myself straining an assuring smile, clutching my bag.
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ25VvUgETfX
"Maddy, you don't have to go to school today if you don't want to."
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ZfhuKcCbA
"I'm fine."
422Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1TkOdhKntO
Only a few more hours until the day replays.
ns216.73.216.32da2
然後按「加至主畫面」