A Roar Behind Bars

I walked into my backyard, dressed in a fine little blue velvet coat. The coat wasn't enough to armour against the numbing breeze. My hands slipped into my front pockets. The smooth velvet felt warm against my soft skin. I looked around. The leaves seemed to dance along with the rhythm of the nature. The left corner of my lips smiled. I lifted my unusually large eyes up and gazed into the dark. I was swimming in an ocean of serenity. My eyes went wide open, my lips a bit apart. I was flabbergasted by the sight of those glittery stars hanging up above. My little brain couldn't comprehend how those majestic little objects could stay still. I believed that there must be something that holds them. I shifted my gaze a little, tried different angles in order to discover the cause behind this divine phenomenon but couldn't find one. I never realized when my eyes got lost among those billion stars. My mind was floating in tranquility. I could feel the warmth just by staring at the sky, wrapped by the cozy starry blanket. 

While I was lost something tragic happened. I felt a jerk as if someone had pushed me hard, very hard, such that for a few seconds I thought I had lost all my senses. I felt as if I was robbed, as if someone had snatched away something from me, something that was so dear, so precious to me. I was certain. I wanted to see who robbed me but my eyes went dim, my vision got blurred. I stared hard into nowhere and tried to focus. I saw something, I saw a bird, it was unlike any other bird I had ever seen, it was strangely large, fluttering it's huge golden wings, trying to get away just like a prisoner trying to escape. I noticed something clenched by its enormous claws. The fog blurred my view, so I had to focus my eyes. It seemed like something that belonged to me. It was a kid, an innocent little kid, her beautiful big eyes were staring back at me, she was dressed in a blue velvet coat, just like the one my grand parents had gifted me. First it looked as if I was staring in a mirror. I lifted my hands up in the air and tried to catch her, I ran as fast as I could, but wasn’t able to save her, I was disappointed. Terror fenced me, tears rolled down my cheeks. I reached out my hand towards my pockets to find something that could wipe my tears, I noticed something. My tiny hands weren't tiny anymore, the black sandals I wore seemed larger than usual. I took a sprint towards the lake. I stared intently. The lady on the other side didn't seem like me, she was dressed in a long blue dress and had freckles all over her face. I reached out my hands to feel my face. I withdrew my hands with a jerk as soon as I felt the damp rough surface. I looked above, the stars started to disappear, I scanned my surroundings and I noticed the leaves started to blow away slowly. The grass underneath my feet turned into a concrete ground. I spun around towards my house but it had also vanished. I felt as if the nature had abandoned me. As if the beauty I witnessed a few moments ago was in fact a bait. I screamed out loud but couldn't hear a sound as if my voice had gone dry. I mercilessly pinched myself, hoping this was just a dream and that I'd wake up underneath my warm blanket. But the pinch not only gave me a lot of pain but also left bruises. My eyes were filled with pain and panic. I stared into the vacuum, the emptiness I perceived was not unlike the one I felt in my heart.

I heard footsteps approaching. I turned to what resembled humans. I could feel my eyes fill up with hope. I ran towards them with a smile on my bitten lips. But wait. Suddenly the drops of hope ceased to fall, and my eyes went dry. I stopped. They weren't human beings. They looked like men when I was at a distance. But now as they were just about a mile away I could see clearer. They had pale white skin, whiter than the pus coming out of my skin. They didn't even have a piece of cloth on them. I couldn't see their facial features, I stared attentively, went a bit closer and realized they didn't have any! All they had were sharp red fangs with blood dripping off it. I spun around and ran by the speed of light till I reached at a distance from where I could no longer see those ghastly monstrous shadows. My legs ached so much that I longed to cut them off, my breath came out in gasps.

I fell down. Realising that I was no longer in peril I didn't make any efforts to get back up. I didn't even have the energy to weep so I just laid there, hands and legs apart, amidst sheer darkness. Out of the blue a ray of light appeared. I regret having mistaken it with a ray of hope. I twisted my head to figure out where the light was coming from. The light was so bright, it almost blinded me. It was a tree. It'd be uncanny if I compare it with any thing I had ever seen in my entire life cause it wasn't. The golden and silver leaves adorned the branches. There were diamonds hanging by those branches. Just like a beautiful bride dressed in a white gown it stood there. I got on my feet. I was so fascinated by the beauty that for a few moments all the pain and suffering vanished. I stretched out my hand to touch the diamond. It was a pure bliss. Its overwhelming beauty transported me into a world of greedy fantasies. I plucked it, and slipped it in my pocket. I pocketed as many as I could. I felt mere contentment just by the weight of my pockets. They got jam packed earlier than I expected. My selfish soul went restless as it wanted to have all of them. I pulled out my handkerchief, laid it on the ground and started setting them on it.

As soon as I plucked the last one I heard a deadly roar. So loud that my ears almost tore apart. The last diamond and the handkerchief slipped off my hands. My heart was racing at its peak. I looked around but found no one. The weight of my pockets got lighter as each second passed. I pulled out the diamonds but they disappeared into the air from my hands as if they weren't meant for me. I screamed out loud from the top of my voice and sobbed like a helpless child. I felt as if my heart was broken, broken into a million pieces, such that each piece was a thousand miles apart from each other. I wept all my energy away. My stomach was growling for food and my throat was arid as a desert. I just wanted to escape, escape from myself, escape from this world I was trapped in. This was not my home, I didn't belong here. Nostalgia came around. I remembered those good days. I found myself drowning in a sweet melancholic ocean of reminiscence. I swam back in the present. I realized my mind was absorbing the darkness around me and I couldn't even stop it. I could feel anxiety, fear, pain crawling on my body devouring it up like termites. I was drowning deeper and deeper into the pit of depression. The emptiness was consuming me from within. I gathered up all the strength I had and made an effort to stand up but I couldn't. I felt dizzy. I peered at the surroundings through my dusty lenses but it started whirling and I fainted. 

At first, I wasn’t certain what or who woke me up. But as I looked around I realized I was standing. I was standing there as a rock, enveloped by a bulletproof shield of intrepidity and fortitude, ready to resist any storm no matter how deadly. I noticed something beneath my feet. There was a girl, lying helplessly, soaked in darkness. That girl wasn’t me anymore. The color of her dress contrasted the one she was surrounded by. But there I was, poised on my feet transcending the things which were holding me down. I sensed an invisible company. A companion was provided to a girl who had been living in solitude. The companion, like a magnet pulled off a heavy baggage from me which had been there forever. That’s when I realized why I was never able to stand up, why my legs ached with every step I took. I saw demons approaching, but this time fear was replaced by confidence, stress by tranquility. Instead of drowning in insecurity I was floating on assurance. I could feel the Lion roaring from beneath my skin. I dauntlessly stood there wearing a confident smile on my face and fixed my victorious gaze on my rivals while my companion fought the battle for me. This companion became a part of me. I was surrounded by a ricochet atmosphere. Earlier I was the warden as well as the prisoner. All I had to do was to release this person trapped inside me. I became prisoner who's been bailed out after spending forever in a self constructed prison.