maybe ballet shoes if I had seen right. Inside those rosy shoes were long, white socks, the kind that had cute lace right at the top. I couldn’ t see that high up, but I knew that it was there. That same creepy giggle from before echoed around me again, and in the back of my mind, I knew this was the end.
I felt a flash of very sharp pain race up my spine. The pair of feet had disappeared, but I had a good idea of what they were doing. There was another slash at my body, and I howled out in agony. Four more soon followed after that, marking up my calves with three deep lacerations on each one. The blows moved up my body, and I felt the same upon my back, stabbing deep into the muscle. Screaming out in absolute torment, I felt my body shaking as tears threatened to fall. This was it. The slashes turned almost intricate now, as though the owner of those little feet wanted to paint a picture. A final deep stab came down on my back, shattering my thoughts, and I heard a loud crack. Everything went black in a split second, the scenery of the beautiful flowers soon fading.
Upon the return of my sight, I found myself in a dazzling white room. I lay in a white bed, with white sheets pulled up to my chin. From somewhere came a steady, slow beep. Letting my eyes adjust, I looked around. On a whiteboard, pictures of someone’ s back were hung up. Squinting, I could see what it looked like. The deep wounds spelled out a name; Lilith, it read. The dot of the
40
“ i” was right upon the spine. Shuddering, I remembered what had happened. Was it a dream? No... it couldn’ t have been. There was evidence otherwise.
My head fell back down to rest against plush pillows, finding comfort in the waking world. Whatever had gone on before was over now. My body still ached, just as it had before. I wasn’ t too sure what‘ before’ even was; if it was real or just some sort of feverinduced dream, I could not tell. Maybe when someone comes, a nurse or a doctor, I could ask where I was. Maybe I hit my head very hard against something.
The silence of the room didn’ t last long, as the door opened softly with a creak. A nurse walked in, uttering a very cheery“ Good morning!” followed by an eerily familiar giggle.
Something inside of me sank, and dread filled my every limb. A weight pushed down against my chest with every step the young nurse took. Ignoring it, I managed a hoarse“ Good morning” back. Looking at the table next to me, I saw a small glass of crystal clear water and a bouquet of baby blue hydrangeas.