❦

My eyes
take forever

to adjust

to the darkness
again.

I'm in an empty foyer.

There's nothing here,
I think,

and then we're

halfway across the room,

facing the door
on the other side.

The woman
taps a card again,

another concealed card reader,

and the double doors

slide open.

It's the size of a prison cell.

We're staring
at a mirror
in the wall facing us.

For the first time
in a long time,

I see my own reflection.

How long has it been?

❦

The woman pulls me by the hand
towards the gaunt, haunted girl

reflected in the prison wall

and I wrench
my hand from hers

to run away.

She has me by the shoulders,
she's talking

over the flood of my laughter.

[Read the full story at novelconbini.com!]