_Gasp_.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

My eyes flutter open and meet a canvas of gray. I sit up, thorns and dried brush crunching underneath me and sticking to my back. I stagger onto my feet, brushing the sticks from my long black dress-

Then I feel it. I look down. Blood mixes with my dark dress, a splatter of abstract art. Protruding from the center of the canvas that is my stomach, is a brown hilt. The blade in my stomach glints, the only source of brightness in sight.

I stare at the dagger for a moment, remembering my fingers wrapped around that very blade just moments ago.

Realization dawns and I snap my head up, looking in all directions. Then I smile. Smile harder than I have my whole life.

Surrounding me is nothing but a stretch of barren, desolate land, brown and dried brush in all directions. There is no shadow, only a cover of gray instead of the the once blue sky.

A white bird flaps by me, the design of blood flicked on its mangled wings matching the one on my body.

It worked.

It _worked_.

I stretch my arms out, taking my first deep breath since my dismal life began. Even though my last real breath was just moments ago. Moments before I clutched a dagger and struck it through my torso.

The bird dips low, and I break out in a run, chasing it, laughing at nothing in particular.

My stupid plan _worked_.

And now I’m free.

Free of the miserable existence that was my life.

Free of the constant echoes of disappointment.

Free of the constant waiting for my life to simply end.

Now, I’m finally free. Free of my life.

My fingers brush the broken feathers of the bird. To us, this place is not a punishment. Not a place for regrets in the afterlife. Not a place to mourn the loss of life.

No, this is freedom.