The Path To Insanity

Well, my explanation for this one is a short one, I have had this story on the mind for a while now and want to get it out. Calling this a "horror" is a bit of a stretch but it's the only category it really falls under. Enjoy :)

I remember the sigh of relief as the road came into view; I remember collapsing on the weathered concrete; I remember the faces of the old couple that found me there; I remember the first night in a bed without that immobilizing fear piercing my skull...but mostly I remember that house. That house and the terrible things that lie inside its' walls. That house and what it did to my family and my friends...what it did to me. I remember the happiness the beauty it brought me, then the mystery, then the horror. I remember everything. Yet, now was the first and only time I was ever going to speak it.

I looked into the doctors face, his eyes bored as he droned on with the qestions. I fidgeted with the hospital clothes and refused to speak as usual. Finally I looked up to him, the first time I had in the months I had been here. He looked up from his notebook, shocked that I had moved at all.

"I will tell you, I can show you. But I'm only going to do it once, so make it a good observation." I said. I think he was surprised I even could speak, I would have been surprised myself too, if I hadn't spent night after night sobbing. When normal peoples families and friends die, they are remembered and greived and the living family members are expected to not be the same. But I wasn't an adult and the people at he orphanage decided I was crazy after just two days. So now I'm here, watching as the doctor pulled his phone to his ear to call who knows who. "But, if I tell you, can you sign my release papers?" I asked as an afterthought.

He stopped and looked at me, his eyes shining behind his glasses, I could tell this was beyond business and was more of a curiousity than anything. He finished his phone call then said as almost an afterthought, "Someone is bringing me a device to help record what you have to say. They would like to stay and listen too, if that's alright."

"Okay." Was my only response as I looked out of the window at a tree as it swayed in the wind. Then suddenly it changed, the leaves shifting color and the trunk twisting shape and then there was my mother, hanging by a rope.

I choked back a scream as I usually did when these memories surfaced and looked at my hands quickly.

The doctor set his clipboard down and got out a new notepad to presumably write down the outline of what I was going to say. Or prescribe me more medication. At this point it didn't really matter, I had already decided I was going to tell him, whether he let me go after or not.

A woman walked in then, with a small device in her hand. She walked to me then stopped, waiting for me to look up. When I did, I saw someone who tried too hard to look friendly. "Hello, Ariah, I'm Cathy, I have taken a particular interest in your case and wished to hear your story."

"Yeah yeah." Was all I said and guestured for her to take a seat.

She turned the device on, placing it in front of me, then sat down a respectful distance away.

"So, where do you want me to start?" I asked them both.

"Wherever you want." The doctor said.

With one fleeting glance at the tree outside, which had returned to its boring self, I took a deep breath and spoke.