Serenity (Watty finalist 2013)

Letters to No One

Samantha lied on the floor with her eyes open and stared blankly at a small overturned bug that was trying to right itself; it’s thin little legs kicked in the air in vain. Samantha pitied it but she had no desire to move and potentially ruin the safety of her blanket cocoon, the bug would just have to fix itself. She pulled the blanket fully over her face and attempted to get some rest for the ninth time that night-at least she assumed it was night.

The smell was a bit better now; she still felt sickly but it had subsided somewhat. The woman had tried to give her some broth but Samantha refused it; the man had tried to poison her before and who knew if the woman was trustworthy, the voice had warned her.

Brick scrapped against brick.

“Hey!” the voice whispered. Samantha perked up and her eyes shot open. The voice was back! She slowly stirred to a sitting position and tried to look around, again there was no one to be seen. “You still alive?”

“Where are you?” Samantha whispered hoarsely; screaming bloody murder for hours on end wreaked havoc on your voice.

“That’s not important, the point is I’m here now and I’m here to help you.”

“You're going to help me escape?!” The last few words came out as a gasp for air as her voice failed her.

“Uhhh....He really put you through the ringer didn’t he, try not to talk to much. And no, I’m not here to to help you escape; I told you before I couldn’t do that. Mr. Thorne is too cunning for me to slip anything past him. I can teach you a way to block out the pain...to some extent anyhow.”

“How?” Samantha tried to ask. It came out as a nasally ‘ow’ but the voice was able to understand it.

“Always questions with you, just listen and I’ll tell you how. You need to disconnect your brain from the pain. It sound a bit unrealistic, I know, but if you try hard enough it’s possible. I’ll teach you.”

“I tried,” Samantha whispered.

“I valient effort I’m sure but there is more too it than just closing her eyes and thinking of things you like. If you trust me I’ll teach you, do you trust me?” Samantha tried to answer but all that came out was dry air. The voice chuckled. “Don’t worry, you don’t have to talk to learn, just listen and obey.”

Serenity broomed up the last of the broken China into the dustpan and dumped it into the overflowing trash can. She wiped her damp brow and stopped to admire her handy work, the kitchen was sparkling clean. Devoting herself to her work had served as a good distraction, almost as therapeutic as the destruction of it, and had kept her mind off the screams from down stairs.

Todays was a bit better. She had lasted over half an hour without screaming, an admirable effort. There were the occasional bouts of silence, none that lasted long, but mades Serenity both grateful and worried at the same time. She had often theorized that the human body would shut itself down as a safety measure if it sustained too much pain and she feared the worst for Samantha who was use to the pampered life of a banker’s daughter; Serenity knew that the screams would stop eventually and never start up again. At the moment she wasn’t screaming, just begging.

“Don’t make me drink it! Stop! No!” Silence followed and Serenity knew she was in for trouble. Mr. Thorne’s footsteps came up the stairs. Serenity began to unwrap the newspaper covered dishes Mr. Thorne had brought, handling each one like a delicate flower. She prepared herself for his coming.

Mr. Thorne’s footfall stopped at the kitchen.

“This is the second time.” Serenity said nothing. He approached Serenity slowly and she continued with her work, knowing full well that Mr. Thorne hated to be ignored. A jug of water was slammed onto the counter next to her, making Serenity jump involuntarily, and causing sloshing water to spill onto the surface. “Care to explain?” he asked.