The hard concrete scrapes against my skin

My life flashes before my closed eyes

The backs of my eyelids red from the sun

I feel the warm drip of blood against the back of my hand

As the ground scrapes through my flesh

I would give anything away

To be a child again, play again, see my family whole again

I miss Christmas, I miss summer

I miss life

The prick of a sting at my hand makes me pull back

My eyes open despite the rays

And I see before me

My house, my dog, my trees

I am home

The sounds of old memories and whispers flood the air

The stagnant, stifling air

What happened here?

I can’t remember

My hand stings as my opposite wipes the small pool of blood

My dog prances over to see me, licking it clean

I can’t help but smile and laugh

I stand, my shoes scraping on pavement

The front door is open, welcoming me in

Hot air persists from the gap in the so-called home

The dog growls at my heels, urging me to enter

The faint scent of death

A vultures sickening cry

The sun beams through the windows

Filtered by the leaves

My dog nudges her soft head against my leg

I open the pantry and toss her a treat

She happily takes it and crunches on it

The floor is slick with a substance I can’t name

The walls drip and pulse

The dog stretches its jaws, flesh ripping from bone

I continue on, my shoes slipping against the floor

I turn the corner and walk up the carpeted stairs

My hand dances over the cool banister

Something squishes beneath my shoe

I look down and see a sticky black spot

I ignore it and continue, the light beckoning me

I avoid touching the slick, dripping banister

My shoes squelch against the carpet

Can I go back?

The dog snarls from the bottom step

The hallway is warmly lit and open

I follow the line of doors to the end

The purple of my bedroom walls greet my eyes

My posters, flags, lights, furniture

It’s all there, waiting on me

I slink past the seemingly endless corridor of rattling doors

What could be trying to get in?

Or are they protecting themselves from me?

The door at the end of the hallway looms as I step in

I move about the room

I take in the familiar scent

I graze my hand over my warm bedsheets

My dog sits just behind me, her tongue lolling out of her mouth

I turn to the mirror

What should have been a bedroom is not

It is a sickening recreation of a nightmare

I take in the melting faces on the posters and the fraying flags

I turn to the mirror

Amidst the bright paint of the wall, the mirror is a horror scene

Black drips from the reflection

Blood oozes from what I can see of my eyes

My face is contorted in pain

What is this?

The reflection is beautiful

Light emanates from the glass and I see me

I am beautiful again

I reach out my hand

The figure on the other side reaches for me

That can’t be my reflection

I am happy, pretty, in love

My dog barks at the mirror, unnerved

I can only stare

My hand touches the smoothness of the mirror

It’s cold against the stagnant air

I can’t break through

She has become what I admired

I watch the bloody face cry

The tears streak against the black goo on it’s face

I can almost make out a complexion beneath

It matches my own

But this can’t be me.

My eyes drip with steaming tears

I cry out as they burn my face

What happened here?

Help me to remember

I step slowly towards the mess of a mirror

Drawn by the pity for this figure

Drawn by a selfless desire

I will help you remember

I say aloud, my voice high and scared

The dog has made it’s way upstairs and growls at me from the doorway

I turn to look for a moment

It’s lower jaw has morphed into a mass of bleeding teeth

I scream again for help

I reach out my hand for the figure

I place it against the hot glass

The heat hurts my fingertips

But I press my palm against the figure’s

Then I am gone

I feel the soft flesh against my own

We connect

We are one and the same

I remember everything

Flashes fill my mind

Blood splatters, growling, yelling

Screaming, squishing, retching

A final gasp of life

As my dog tries to fight off my attacker

I breathe in a deep breath as my eyes open

I am staring at the ceiling of my college dorm

The air is neither cold nor hot

My mind is fogged over with sleep and nightmare

I turn to look at the clock and feel a sharp sting

The back of my right hand is bleeding