Sunday Scribblings #142 – Escape

There were no more steps to take, no more roads to walk. The light was fading and the ocean was drowning in itself. During those cold winter nights she used to ask to be held, but things had changed. Nothing was the same anymore and she didn’t want to admit that she knew why. The world around her fell apart and she was tied to a boulder rolling down a mountain. She didn’t scream or yell. There was no escape. She didn’t know why she was here now. Everyday had been the same. An illusion of normalcy. But there was an underlying sadness, a melancholy undertone in everything she did. Until one day she woke up with desperation leaking out of her eyes.

The wild river was claiming her, and she didn’t stand a chance to fight for air. Everything that once felt good felt wrong now. Her skin felt too tight. Everything was tingling in the wrong way. Everything turned out to be nothing, in the end. And while she was walking and trying to remember where she was going and why she was feeling like going mad, the rain drenched her to the bone, as if it was highlighting her messy state of mind for everyone to see.

There was no escape from her mind and from her thoughts. There was no escape from the downward spiral and the change that was waiting around the corner. But she was trapped in the nature of all things that kept her hostage. She didn’t understand that there was a future for her. That things could be different. But something drove her to move. It was like something inside of her ordered her to put one foot in front of the other. She walked faster. And faster. Until she was running. Her lungs were burning and her legs felt heavy. She was not used to physical activities. But something kept her moving. The rain pelted her face, plastering her hair against her cheek. She was cold and shivering. Inside and outside too. She tried shaking everything off that held her back. She tried running away from herself. Running, just running. And it didn’t matter where she was going. She had to keep moving. She had to keep herself busy to escape the desperation that was clinging to her eyelashes. The sun set and the moon rose. The sun rose and the moon set. Day after day, and she kept moving. She kept running, until, in the end, her skin fit her mind again.

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Sunday Scribblings are prompts Aaron shares every Wednesday on his blog: https://confusingmiddle.com/2023/10/18/sunday-scribblings-142/ I haven’t used a prompt in a long while, I admit. If you read yesterday’s post, you will understand. Check out Aaron’s blog and consider writing for those prompts, it is great fun and inspiring too.