The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Happy Places 
by Lee Mitchell  

.Sometimes, there is no difference between fantasy and reality. Both become something fluid, merging into one another and obscuring time and space itself. Phantoms break through the rift every once in a while, strangers who pretend to know who I am. They want to control me, talk about things that don’t really exist, and force me into a place that’s cold, nonsensical, and lonely.

There are no roses to smell there, no soil to dig my hands into, no sunlight on my face. Just four white walls, smells of bleach to offset the stench of death and decay, strangers in their scrubs and white coats asking me if I remember who they are. I don’t, but I nod anyway. I can’t even recall how I get there, if I’m going to be honest, but I do know it’s a prison.

A young woman with sad, caring eyes gave me the key to my escape. It’s a magic key, and it transforms my lost reflections into shards of reality that I know to be genuine. My little girl is there. So is my husband.

Each time I hear that beautiful, familiar music, I’m back. I’m awake.

And I’m happy here, so I think it’s time I stood my ground. No more tears. No more nightmares of phantoms in scrubs and strangers and their confusing questions. They won’t pull me away from this beautiful lucidity ever, ever again.

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Fiction © Copyright Lee Mitchell.
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com