Fear

I sat beside my bedroom mirror. I looked away in fear.

The terror within me grew in strength.

I was not drunk. No wine had touched my lips. Yet the pounding…pounding…pounding of my heart increased in sound.

I was scared to look at the glass. Its reflection brought me pain. I had once looked at the figure, but I promised—not again.

No one made me look. It was an accident. I was alone inside my room. As far as I remember.

But memory is a funny thing when nothing’s there but death and shame.

Was I alive or dead, I thought. Could this be life anew? I looked back at the bed of white. I saw the other two.

One was short and young and trim. The other tall and stout. My recollection ran away. I thought I knew them once.

They sobbed and sobbed and then cried more—their tears and sound uneven. My hearing faded slowly. The silence only worsened. I was alone except my heart and person.