Alright so this an idea I had after seeing nothing of the sort for a while despite all the possibilities. I'm going to try for something a bit serious here so be patient with me. I know I haven't worked on This is Your Pile in a long while. Hopefully I will find some inspiration for that soon. In the meantime I do hope you enjoy this.


Prolog
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I didn't know where I was but I felt safe. It was a relief after what I last remembered. The-- oh god, they'd shoved me in there and left me to die! They all left me to die! I want to scream but found no voice. I start panicking again. No! I did not want to die; not to those three fucking bitches.

Light, sensation, the loss of the safe space, I hadn't even realized I couldn't feel anything but safe. I flailed, expecting to hit the walls of the locker, or worse, a coffin but instead found myself suspended in nothingness. Except...no, it wasn't nothingness. There was light everywhere holding me up warming me as if I was in a crystal case under the sun in summer. It was weird but I found myself calming again somewhat.

It was when I was able to move freely where I wanted it but I missed walking, a floor appeared. Gravity seemed to become imposed, but gently enough for me to touch down instead of falling. I blinked in confusion. What the hell? Where was I anyway? Why did this place seem to become exactly what I wanted? I needed to find a way out. Stairs spiraled up from the floor leading impossibly high.

Okay then… nothing for it except to start climbing then. I started towards the stairs.

The walk to get to the stairs never seems to lessen. As though I was walking in place. Something moved out of the corner of my eye and I turned towards it… it looked like…

Mom?! I ignore the stairs and race towards my mom. I don't notice or care about the tears as they stream down my face. I just wanted to see my mom again. I think that if I'm dead I might just be okay with that if it meant I could be with Mom again. Arriving to where she was, I rushed over to her wanting nothing more than to hug her. I sailed right through her, her form not even flickering. What? No! She hummed and I noticed it's not just Mom; this is my kitchen. There's the table and…

"… and then Emma told the bully that they couldn't mess with us anymore or she would tell her daddy-her daddy was a lawyer and no one really wants to mess with a big lawyer firm like the one her daddy works for, and that my daddy works for the dock workers and they're big and can squish bullies and eat them for lunch," I had told Mom hurriedly, not even having bothered to breathe.

"Taylor that's all well and good but you shouldn't have to resort to threats or violence…"

Oh, I remembered this. Mom told me that if you ignored the bullies, eventually they'd just go away. That sometimes they were suffering in ways you didn't know about and that their bullying was the only way they could find to scream for help. The scene dissolved and skipped. My heart landed in my throat. Oh no, not this again; it was bad enough to live through it once.

"You lied to yourself more than I lied to you."

But wait, the memory leading up to this. It replays, seemingly because I want it to, Emma… she's shaking looking torn and… it resolves when I mention her hair. Oh no… Emma… I shake my head hard. It doesn't excuse what she did to me but on some level, a level I hate, she's still my sister in all but blood… I still care about her.

Jump, skip, scenes flash by bits and pieces of my life displayed for me to live though and regret again. None of them in seemingly any order. The worst ones, the ones where it hurt too much to watch again are pushed away. Mom dying… dad's downfall after it. Emma's betrayal, the...the locker…it's when my life finishes being played out for me in snippits I wipe away my tears and turn back towards the stairs, determined to find a way out again. The walk actually seems to get somewhere this time.

The climb takes forever but I reach the top feeling more at peace and resolute than I had in a long time. There's a mirror at the top, the glass of it tinted in a way that makes my skin look wrong. I scowled some at the too narrow mouth, the eyes that are just a little too far apart. They change, my whole skin becoming smooth without the little blemishes that my life had left me with.

I managed to change my appearance to the way I'd always hoped I'd looked some day. Hell, I even had a little bit of cleavage. It wasn't much but it looked natural and right with my body type. The full sized mirror swung back like a door. I stepped through.

AN: This has been Beta'd by the ever amazing Corpse! I have such plans for this story but updates will be sporadic at best. Please follow to keep an eye out I look forward to hearing what anyone thinks.