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 ^{(it's beta!)}

There was a room.

No, a cage.

With a kid.

No, a woman. Or was she a girl? Nobody could tell where and when the line had been crossed.

Then there was quiet.

She observed the dark slate shade of grey that encaged her in the form of four steel cold walls. In what resembled the embodiment of a prison cell, the occupants of this room stirred, fusing into a mixture of cold, strong emotions until the girl was empty of tears and her body took it’s original form of a bloodless, painless machine.

Beneath the surface of her pallid, expressionless features lay a skull thick with mechanical functions of robotic thoughts, working, moving.

Never stopping.

Her fingers knotted in the tangles of wavy auburn hair, manipulating them into soft curls.

Then her eyes darted towards the bin.

She tried to avert them from it’s unwelcoming structure but something about it fascinated her vision and whispered to her that she wasn’t quite done looking at what was waiting for her inside the bottom of the netted wired bucket.

She could see it from here.

A crumpled up photo that begged to leave its new home.

She sympathised with the photo, for she was trapped too.

Disposed of.

She still wouldn’t touch it though, and She tried to look elsewhere.

Sat on the damp concrete floor, she bent her legs and smoothed her hands over her knees, tucking her chin into them and cradling her body.

Then her hands found the front pocket of her jeans. Slowly, leisurely, she pulled out the half empty packet of Wrigley’s chewing gum and let it sit pointlessly in her palm for a few minutes.

Eventually she pushed herself to her feet, making her way towards the waste bin - against her own accord, the clinking of metal and motions of her brain losing speed until her thoughts were so silent all she could hear was the distinct echo of footsteps, ricocheting off the four hollow walls.

Magnetically guided towards its content, she lifted the scrunched up ball of laminated paper and uncreased it, hands shaking.

Her fingers lightly traced the image that fought its way through her current, invading the flow and signals in her veins a determined tear forced its way down her cheek.

She threw the picture to the floor and punched the firm steel of the wall, screaming. She sobbed and kicked the heartless, persistent bin, tipping it over. A key fell onto the floor.

Suddenly one of the walls began to crack, letting a large metal door emerge, tall and dark, slightly ajar.

The girl thought long and hard.

She took a few gentle steps towards the door, key in hand, gum in pocket. Strange. All of these objects had been in the room with her for an eternity, but she’d never thought to use them in this way before. All of a sudden everything fit into place. The door waited for her, hinges so inviting and handle softly anticipating her escape.

Then it was obvious.

Smiling, she took out the golden Yale key and twisted it in the lock with a click. After all this time she’d finally realised the truth.

This room was all she had ever needed.

Now the moment she’d waited for. She turned on her heel and glided dreamily forward to pick up the photo from where she had unintentionally thrown it, face down on the floor. Opening a strip of gum she put it to her lips and chewed it for a while. Then, squashing it between her thumb and index finger, she made her way towards the wall opposite and stuck it to the back of the photo so she could press it carefully on the wall just a few centimetres above her eye level.

She stepped back to admire her handy work, tilting her head thoughtfully.

Perfect.

On the picture a young girl beamed back at her, cradling a new born baby. Soft auburn waves stuck with sweat to her forehead as she sat upright in a white nightgown, tag on wrist, infant in arms; its tiny fist wrapping around her smallest finger.

Lying down on the flat cement, she clenched her eyes so tight that she could still see the two people vividly. Together, breathing. She laughed.

She wasn’t quite ready to lose this memory.