keep the nightmares out.
She was just a girl who wanted to escape, to run away from all the terrible and horrible monsters which plagued her very being and nightmares. A little girl wasn't supposed to be wanting to be free at a young age, they were supposed to believe in imaginary friends and princesses. They were supposed to be young, joyus and overall carefree. She was the exception, her life lacked color. Everything was black and white and she knew she wanted out. This one little girl stood out from the rest. Wanting to break free from the chains that held her in these four walls inside her aunt's house who she despised so much. There was no hope though, her parents were gone and her aunt was the only living realtive to take care of her.
And then he came. He was like an angel, falling out the sky and answering her prayers. A shimmering diamond in a cave of darkness. It was almost impossible to not get sucked into a mesmerising trance just from the way he talked and walked. He brought hope, and that was the only thing she wished for from a person.
He left. He said he'd come back. That's what everybody says to her. They all whisper sweet nothings to her, they say the infamous "I'll be back", and they never return. They leave her with such wild fantasies of hope. Dreams of adventure, for something bigger then this minuscule life that she lead, but alas all she had was her mind and that was deteriorating as she grew older.
People claimed that she needed help, that the strange man was just made up, that she should let go of such childish thoughts. They told her that getting rid of this nonsense would help her ease into normality once more. She was fourteen for crying out loud, she was too old for an imaginary friend called Raggedy Man. They knew nothing of course. Why would they? They were grown ups, they left their dreams and fantasies behind them, something she vowed to never do. She clung onto his very essence like oxygen. He was the only thing that was helping her breathe.
Everyday for nine years since the garden, she had dark thoughts slowly crawl up into her brain again. Those impure and frightful comments that she shoved down to forget were soon reappearing, threatening her to end it. He was never coming, was he? She would spend her whole life wondering if he would ever come back and she already knew the answer to that question. She's known ever since he left her garden. She kept up the faith, hoping that if she waited long enough he would come back. But there was nothing and the darkness started to consume her.
It was simple really, one daring action and it would be over. The pain of having the heartbreak would be gone. The disappointment and sadness would leave forever. She finally hit rock bottom and there was no going back. Nothing could change her mind. Not some boy down the street who had a crush on her, not the strange man in the strange box who promised to take her away, not her best friend who swore that the exact strange man was real. Nothing at all. She'd finally be with her parents, like she should have been in the first place.
So, she took one giant breath and placed her pale body down in the tub. She'd rather drown than having to shoot herself or hang herself. She had to end it, and she knew deep down that she'd stop herself if she tried any of those two options. Her red hair sprawled around her in the tub as she looked up at the ceiling, closing her eyes one last time. She thought of everyone she was leaving, no one would care really. Maybe it was better this way, after so many years of being tormented by herself and the kids at school she had it. Her last thought traveled through her brain as she submerged below the freezing water.
Goodbye.
But it didn't happen, she was rescued and was brought back to life once more. She went back to therapy, got better in time and got herself a boyfriend along the way.
And then he came back, right in the nick of time. When she was still young and naive, she ran as fast as her legs could take her and reached her backyard when he disappeared once more. She swore she would not cry, she promised. But all promises are broken at some point in time and so that night she cried herself to sleep. Although that wasn't the first time she's cried, she's been crying for twelve years, waiting for him to hear her pleas.
Then one night, she was sleeping soundly in her bed when a familiar noise woke her up. Her head shot up as she swung her legs out of the bed and walked towards the window. She felt her heart swell up with joy and grabbed a robe from her closet. Her green eyes stared at the wedding dress hanging on the closet door. She turned her back and forgot all about it, making her way downstairs into the garden to greet an old familiar friend.
He was here, he was real and he was taking her away. Finally fulfilling that promise from oh so long ago. He was the one constant thing in her life, the one she couldn't live without. Of course after fourteen years and four psychiatrist, she grew up. She wasn't a little girl anymore, she was a young woman who has been poked and prodded with. She was indecisive at first but then he offered once more.
All she gave him was a smile and ran away with a strange man in his magical box.