Nothing Concrete

Nothing Concrete

Locked up like a prisoner she cries. Dressed in pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt, devoid of underwear or socks, even a bra, she lays. The blue mattress underneath not worthy of a sheet or blanket or even a pillow. She looks down. All she can see is 10 toes. The toes had a bluish hue to them. They were cold.

She screams petrified. The people in the uniforms rush over to eliminate the danger. They hand her a tablet. She obliges after a while thinking if she does something for them that they would do something for her. She feels numb. Her eyes are like the anchor from a boat waiting to dock. They close.

Rude awakenings from a white coat. They take her to a room far away. The room is through a lot of doors. Outside the safe door the insects are everywhere. The tiles are cold on her bare feet. The aliens she runs from are visible. She’s scared.  The white coat makes sure she heels to his side like an animal.

The far away room is full of white coats. They start talking about her. She looks up – she’s on a stage in a room full of white coats throwing questions at her. She gives the obligatory answers hoping that if they are the right ones she could go free. It doesn’t work. When it’s over the main white coat walks her back into the room with the doors. She finds that her face is wet. She’s crying. Crying over what - she doesn’t know. She sleeps.

She is jolted awake by a person in uniform and is put into a tiny room with another white coat. Her body trembles with fear. An alarm goes off. The white coat runs leaving a shiny brass object on the table. She sits there frozen not knowing what to do. She knows the brass object is the red carpet to freedom. She grabs it and opens a door and finds herself in a corridor with a lot of other doors. Without thinking she walks past those doors.

Towards the end of the corridor is a beacon of light. One of the doors is lit up. She is captivated by the twinkling and is drawn towards it. People stare at her as she passes. The shiny brass object comes in handy again. She hands it to the twinkly door and is deafened with alarms.

She is petrified and doesn’t know what to do so she runs, runs away from the sound towards the light. The people in the uniforms follow her. She is scared. The more frightened she becomes the faster she runs. She runs down corridors and through doors until freedom. Light. Natural light, something she hadn’t seen in a long time. She is overwhelmed at the taste of the air the freedom.

She looks over her shoulder and the people in the uniforms are still in hot pursuit. The air blowing in her hair she heads to the gate. Freedom.  Just as she gets there she finds herself on the ground with the people in the uniforms on top of her. They once again bring her into the room with the doors. They once again give her a tablet. She looks down at her feet. They are bleeding. Her eyes shut laden by the weight of the anchors again.