Blink

Heaven was found today, beneath a burned out light bulb. A girl and a knife united, for the first time, when you blinked. A tear, a swipe, a drop of blood, and outside the door you stood. You saw her, the next day, and didn't notice the long sleeves in the middle of May. Something was different. Lost weight? Hair cut? New earrings? You tried to guess, but got denied by her who had a secret, concealed by a band-aid, a sleeve, a smile. The snap of a toaster erases your questioning stare, and you look away from her. Forgetting, and dismissing, the thoughts of her. You don't care, for she means nothing to you. Just another kid, behind another locked door. 1

You blink.2

A ring, who was it again? She did something else. These past months have been strange. Where did she go? Where did you? They know. She has been discovered. You sit down beside her, and pretend to listen to what they're saying about her. You're missing a meeting. She looks at you, but you don't see her. You glance back, but she doesn't see you. 3

"Your daughter was found in the bathroom with safety pins." You might have landed the deal...4

"Her arm was bleeding profusely." You hope they move your office upstairs, it's so stuffy on the first floor.5

"She stumbled a bit when we led her out, and the growls from her stomach were deafening." You forgot your planner. Oh well, you think, you'll get it when you drop her off. How long will this be?6

"We strongly recommend she sees somebody. If she doesn't, then we'll be forced to send her to a hospital ourselves. This is dangerous, what she's doing." You nod, and agree quickly. To what, you don't know. A shake of hands, a goodbye, a tap on her shoulder. 7

"Come on, hun." manages to escape your lips before the car door shuts, and you blink again.8

"I FOUND HEAVEN!" She shrieks to you, echoing throughout the white building, knocking over the metal chair as she rises so quickly. Who is this? you wonder. This ragged, frail, carved up woman. Knotted hair covering her crazed eyes, and a cheap floral gown hanging loosely from her bones. 9

"I FOUND HEAVEN AND IT WAS RED!" She screams to you, or maybe to the wall behind you. A pack of them, all in white, take hold of her and drag her back to her own cage at the end of the hall. Who is she? Who are you? Not again.10

"I FOUND HEAVEN BUT YOU MADE ME FALL INTO A BLINDING - WHITE - HELL!" She yells with fury as the door shuts in her hollow face, and clicks a lock that bounces off the walls and travels to you. She pounds on the door, with her bony little fists, and her whimpers and sobs fill the hall. She wants to be freed. She wants to go back. To you? You remember. You know who she is. You open your mouth to reassure her, to comfort her, to ask for the key to free her from this world of white and whispering walls.11

Too late. You blink.12