she can’t breathe. the walls are closing in on her, the space growing tighter, and tighter and tighter. tick tock. tick tock. she looks up, the subtle sound of clockworks momentarily drawing her attention away from her entrapment. the clock reads: 0.54AM. she looks away, her eyes fixing on the door. she tries the handle: push, it refuses; pull, it refuses. push again, pull again, again, and again, and again. she’s trapped, between these four white walls, which inch closer and closer by the second. her head starts to spin. her pulse is racing… or maybe it’s slowing, or maybe it’s not beating at all? is she dead? she doesn’t want to go yet. she cant. not like this. she holds her hands out in front of her, palms open and facing upwards. one, two, three, four, five. breathe. six, seven, eight, nine, ten. ten fingers. tick tock. tick tock. how long has she been here, pleading to be let out? hours? days? weeks? months? she looks up at the clock. it reads: 0.54AM. that can’t be right. time can’t just stop. she keeps her gaze trained on the clock: the minute hand seems to bounce in one place. it is broken. it doesn’t change number, yet it keeps ticking, and ticking, and ticking. each tick a mocking reminder that she’s stuck here, wherever “here” is. a cage? a box locked away? a memory she can’t seem to escape from? a suitcase filled with old keepsakes that no longer serve use, waiting to be disposed of? she tries to scream, but no sound escapes, her voice stuck in her throat. she bangs on the walls; she bangs on the door. please, someone hear her. someone bring her back. she can’t breathe. tick tock. tick tock. on the other side, i listen to her struggle, each bang on the door a knife twisting through my heart. twirl the key between my fingers, block her out, stop wishing to set her free. i’ve fallen too deep, and she’s starting to slip. i don’t have the strength to bandage another wound. my hands are shaking too much to glue together your broken pieces. forgive me, little one. maybe one day you’ll understand i kept you locked away in a cage to save you from man.