I’d been playing with the buttons on the hospital bed in hopes of finding a comfortable setting. Well...no such luck. I’d also been hoping not to wake up my ‘roommate.’ She appeared to be a pretty deep sleeper but I think my noisy talents could rival her deep sleeping any day or night for that matter.

Just when I thought I might settle to go to sleep my ‘roommate’ started-

Well, I don’t know what, but it sure wasn’t deep sleepin.

She started tossing frantically, right and left, right and left. I was just about to get up to get a nurse when I heard her begin to mumble... “No,no it wasn’t me... not this time and not last time...please don’t send me there...it’ll be easier..for him...to get in my head again...no ..no” And then she stopped tossing and began shivering until finally she was at peace again. Or at least she looked at peace on the outside. Who knew what was going on, on the inside.

My mind was whirling with the possible meanings of what she said and I came up pretty much blank. I just hoped she wasn’t actually some psycho that I’d need to worry about in my sleep.

* * *

“Hey, good morning,” I greetd my ‘roommate’ when she blinked open her eyes.

She startled for a minute, as if I was the one giving her nightmares. Then she looked at me and gave a little smile.

“Sorry I wasn’t expecting that. I guess you just startled me a little.”

“ Yeah, wouldn’t be the first time you’d be shaking scared in that bed,” I mumbled.

“What did you say,” she asked a little nervous.

“Nothing...just that you didn’t seem to be sleeping so peacefully last night is all.”

“Oh that, that’s normal, everyone gets nightmares right, you know..” she said too quickly.

I realized this wasn’t the best breakfast topic and we would be roommates for the time being so I should probably ask her name or something.

“ Hey I’m Annabel, what’s your name?” I asked her in attempt to transfer to a little bit of lighter talk.

A look of relief crossed her face before she said, “ Hi, it’s nice to meet you formally, I’m Marionette.”

* * *

The nurses forgot to restock the waters in our rooms mini fridge so I was left to fend for myself. Of course only I would get hiccups at 3 am and need some cold water to heal up my throat. I was hiccuping down the hall to the kitchen when I saw a shadow round a corner. I followed and then freaked when I saw a person. Because why would a shadow mean there was a person there, of course. Sometimes I thought I scared myself. Well, at least my hiccups went away.

Now...what was Marionette doing here?

* * *

I didn’t expect to see anyone in the hall at this hour. It was 3am and I thought I’d just seen her sleeping back in our room.

And here she was...at 3am...in the hall...staring at -

Dang that was creepy! She was staring at a painting of a puppet.

I didn’t want to scare her so I started to walk over slowly...

And then I slowed down when I realized that she was talking to the painting.

“I did what you said,” she sniffled wiping away tears I couldn’t see earlier. “OKAY! So just leave me alone okay!”

“please,?”She asked in a meek voice that I wouldn’t have heard if not for the pin drop silence in the hospital dorms at 3am.

I was just about to snap her out of this messed up daze when my own eyes began to play tricks on me.

I SAW THE PUPPET MOVE! AND THEN TALK! It readjusted it’s position on the wooden stool in the painting and then sort of came a little out of the painting to come close to her ear. I didn’t hear what it whispered but her reaction was enough to tell me that it wasn’t good. She began to tear and sob a little. “But..but.. I did what you said,” she repeated pointlessly and then trailed off whatever else she planned on saying. Her eyes began to swirl black and white like some illusionists spinner and then her movements became jerky. It was almost like she was-

A PUPPET