HeatMarie

Each piece of broken glass echoed as it shattered on the kitchen floor. Perhaps, it was irrational, a moment of insanity, but she didn’t care. She grabbed another off the shelf and let it slip from her hands, watching as it fell to the floor between her bare feet.

Again each piece echoed, louder than the ones before. Seeking revenge, they clawed at her skin, leaving tiny trails of blood where their little daggers seeped into her flesh.

There was no cry of pain from her, no shouts of anger, only numbness. She decided it was better that way, so she flipped the switch that held it all and shut it off. Emotions are useless things. 

The next glass broke, then the next. One by one she grabbed them, held them for a moment and let them go. 

Grabbing again, her hand found an empty shelf. She stood on her toes and reached the tips of her fingers to the back, searching for just one more. When she was absolutely positive they were all gone, she gazed at her new masterpiece. Darkness filled the house with the exception of the light from the bedroom that beamed down the hall and casted rainbow streams as it reflected off the thousand little shards.

“Pretty,” she said out loud in a flat monotone voice. “But look what a mess you made.” 

She shrugged and made a clear point to ignore the part of her mind that told her to grab the broom and clean up. Protesting the thought entirely she sat down, not minding one bit that her fragile skin was being bitten by the monsters she had just created. That was going to be tomorrow’s problem. For tonight, she was going against everything her rational brain told her. 

When it told her it was okay to cry, she laughed. When it told her to go for a walk, she got naked and turned on the TV. When her annoying rationality told her to sleep, that is when she got up, went to the kitchen and opened the cupboard door. The glass she held in her hands was fragile, a gift she didn’t deserve and as it slipped from her hands she could do nothing to stop it and each piece of broken glass echoed as it shattered on the kitchen floor.