Locked from the INSIDE

Her hand trembling
She tries to reach for a bandage.
A chaotic mind, tense body and throbbing arm
The gauze rolls off the shelf and on to the floor,
making its way behind the sink.

Stretching her arm she inches the roll forward with the tips of her fingers.
SLOWLY

It’s dripping now.
What a
MESS.

Tearing off a piece with her teeth, tastes funny.
She tries to wrap it tightly.
Her attempt resembles a child’s first effort at tying a bow.

Its gotta
STOP.

Inhaling quickly while clenching her teeth,
Her jaw is sore.
She tries again.
She finds the scissors, cuts a decent sized piece and tries to s l o w her movement,
As her mind is panicking.

Wrap it, and wrap it tight!
She can feel her heart beating in her arm.
One b e a t after another.

Tying one knot on top of another,
it looks like it will stay.
It doesn’t look
PRETTY.

Glancing at the room she realizes the disaster around her.
Double-checking to make sure the doors locked,
she decides to start with the sink.

Holding the bag from the stainless steal trash bin in one hand,
With soggy toilet paper she wipes up the
streams of her.
Chucking the tie-dyed pieces in the bag quickly.

She moves to the floor.
Unrolling more and
MORE
toilet paper.
There sure is a lot.

On hands and knees
she makes sure to get every
last
DROP.

Like lightning she shoots up, standing straight.
She realizes it’s all over her tattered jeans.

Taking another roll of toilet paper.
She attempts to wipe it away,
but its still visible and it won’t
DISAPPEAR.

Madly rubbing her pants she’s only making a
Bigger mess of
HERSELF.

It was an accident,
a moment of weakness.

The scars say something different.

She throws on her black sweatshirt, letting the hood cover the top of her face.
She closes her eyes.
Opening them she sees
SPOTS,
pretty spots.
The room narrows and narrows some more,
as she feels her body
float
to
the
floor.

A hard THUD soon followed by a loud
CRASH.

Heavy footsteps echo through the hall.
They’re getting louder.

A bang on the door.
The knob rattles.
LOCKED
from the inside.

It flows from her arm and into the cracks of their pristine white tile;
Creating a unsettling picture among the groves.
Surrounding her.

The door stops shaking, the knob is still.
Footsteps back away and then return.
Faster and heavier than before.

The doorframe cracks, paint chips fly and tumble to the ground,
as the door screams across the room and into the wall.
The mirror shatters.

Crouching to her
he pulls up her limb body
holding her arm tight with a cloth.

Straightening one leg after another
He picks up her motionless body and cradles her head.
Tears dripping off his face.

Down the stairs
Out the door
And rushed to help
Someone please
HELP