On Repeat

“Darling, darling…where are you?”

The old man stammers softly across the kitchen down the long hallway. His bare feet numb again the cold sandstone floor. He couldn’t remember where she was.

The cobwebs were winning.

Soft rays of Twilight filtered in from the compact pueblo windows. It would be a Full Moon over the desert soon. But he could barely remember what he had for breakfas...

The little girl was bouncing higher and higher and higher. Her once carefully plaited braids flipped around with the beat. Her face was enveloped by a gapped toothed smile.

Her light blue eyes squinted with glee at every bounce. Her fingertips barely missed the top of the castle by a whisp.

On every bounce her blue pettycoat flew up towards her face. She giggled as she tried to pat it down. It ...

Every day. Every damn day. You slather gunk on your face. Crevasses and valleys created and defined.

“You look like a monster” are the words you’re trying to avoid. Or at least you that’s what you though you feared.

So day in and day out you cover your real being with layers of junk.

Until one day you decide.

Not today. Not today. You walk out in the sunlight fresh faced and free.

Unti...

TW: S

I shook my head, hard. Eyes wide shut. Deep breathes just as my sessions ingrained in me. One, two, on three I hesitatantly glanced over hoping my eyes had simply tricked me. The faint discoloration where it once was proved otherwise. My skull amplified the shrill of a house filled to the brim with people. It barely drowned out the thumping of my heart as it slowly worked up its pace.

As...