enmity

Prologue

NARRATOR
Reed opened her eyes, slowly. As soon as the room started to come into focus, she clamped her eyes shut, tightly, until she could "see" the little circles of bright red or yellow in a wide area of darkness filling her field of vision. Panic started to form and take over, as she started to remember. Speaking to herself, in her mind, she willed herself to calm down and her breathing returned to its s normal pace. With extreme concentration, she opened her eyes, staring at the soft mint green carpet covering her floor, trying to control her emotions, in vain. A small tear slipped out, seeming to fall in slow motion, as Reed, powerless, stared at it in frustration. She would not let them feel any satisfaction. Whether this was because her irritation and necessity to feel petty, or her pretending to not care, she wasn't sure. In any case, her anger slowly took over. Suddenly, she sat up straight and stared at a person who had entered her room unannounced. As she focused on the details of the person, she started to recognize the familiar traits of her mother. Sighing somewhat in relief, she looked away, the anger still pounding, blocking all sounds. She could see her mother speaking, feel the vibrations, read her lips, but she could not hear her. However, she was not deaf. Her anger had simply taken over her auditory capabilities for the moment. Reed tried to swallow, then realized that she couldn't, because her throat had closed up too, in response to the anger controlling her. Frustrated, she slammed her head back onto the pillow.
She did not move from her awkward and highly uncomfortable position until her mother gave up, and walked away. Then, she stood up, so suddenly that she flailed for a moment before sitting back down. This was going to be a long day, she thought to herself, as she dragged herself to her desk.