I wake to a piercing sound
The phone on the top bunk rings loudly, as though to tell me the day had started
I groggily climb down the ladder and find my sister still sound asleep
She was always a heavy sleeper, so I wake her by lightly slapping her face
I call her lazy and a sleepyhead
She yells at me for waking her
We continue to argue, jokingly insulting each other as we get ready for school
We run downstairs and see mother making breakfast
She is as well dressed as ever, ready for another day at work
Father is also ready, but he just wears a simple lab coat
He scrutinises the newspaper, his eyebrows furrowing as he reads the news
We eat quickly and then bid farewell to our parents
We race each other to school, as we do every day
And then we part ways to attend our classes
I listen, I take notes, I groan at the mention of homework or tests, like any student would
At lunch, we all meet
Me, my sister, and our friends
And we eat and talk about the trivial dramas of school
And after classes, we attend club meetings
And then after a long and hard day, we return home
Mother and father are there at the dinner table
We talk about our day, our classes, who said and did what
Mother and father talk about their jobs
They ask us what homework we have, they remind us to do our chores, they reprimand us when we don't finish everything on our plate
We spend the evening doing homework, or watching TV, or on our cell phones or computers
Mother yells at us for staying up too late
We protest, and say we are old enough to do as we like
She doesn't back down, and turns the TV off, saying that we can't afford to stay up at our age
We argue no more and go to our bedroom
Then before I rest my eyes, I ask my sister...
"Do you find our lives dreary? Don't you wish for something more than the ordinary?"
My sister laughs, and then she tells me
"A mundane life is what some people crave. We don't know how lucky we are."
I sigh, and I go to sleep, thinking about what she told me...
I awake
Not to the ringing of my phone, but the rattling of chains
It is dark
I feel cold
I feel tired, hungry, dehydrated
I feel excruciating pain all over my body
But especially my arms
I cannot move
I cannot speak
I feel like I want to die
Where are my parents?
Where is my sister?
Where are my friends?
Where has everyone gone? Why am I so alone?
Then I remember what I so badly want to forget...
My father left me when I was young, and died protecting the sister I never knew
My sister thinks I'm evil incarnate, and hates every fibre of her being for her relation to me
My friends are somewhere out there, fighting for their lives and for the sake of humanity
And as I hear the clack of heels, I remember the worst part of all
My mother never treated me with love
She never cared for my welfare or happiness
I am nothing more than her tool, a way of achieving her own twisted ends
My mother is a monster
She taunts me
She mocks me
She strips me of my dignity and pride
She cackles like a demon, and then leaves me to rot like a caged bird
And when I am sure I am alone
I try to forget...
I try to sleep again
I will wake in the middle of the night screaming
And my sister will climb to the top bunk
And reassure me that it was just a terrible nightmare
Then the next day I will tell Mom and Dad about my dream
And they will tell me they will never hurt me
They will tell me they will always love me
But no matter how much I try to delude myself
I know I will wake up here
I will wake up tugging at the chains with all my might
I will wake up contemplating how to break from this prison
I will wake cursing my fate and she who put me through all this suffering
I will wake screaming my lungs out
Cackling hysterically
Biting my lips until I taste blood
Panting, hyperventilating, begging for help
Begging for death
Crying until my eyes give out
Longing for the end to come