A Reprise

The next morning Gisele felt slightly dazed. It was early, and everyone seemed to be hiding. No one had brought her her breakfast. Luckily she was no longer under lock and key and could find food herself. When she stepped out into the hallway, she was struck by its stillness. No other patients moved. There wasn’t a sound. Gisele felt slightly dizzy, queasy, but she moved hastily down the hallway. When she would have descended the staircase, she changed her mind and ascended it instead. She went where she usually had no mind to go-- to the prior’s quarters. She passed the prior’s office and it was empty. Beyond that the hall was dark, and the rooms it opened to were uninhabited. Gisele checked all of them as she went, urgent on a sudden prowl, struck by queasy suspicion, fear. The hall went on and on. She tripped and saw a broken doll lying on the floor. Tenderly she picked it up and turned it over, brushing its dirty costume, flicking at dirt on its cracked face. Still holding the...

The girl sat on the side of the cot, her lips pressed to a small moue. She had a round, pale face and large blue eyes. Her black hair was center-parted and neatly combed behind her wimple. When she didn't answer or move, Gisele stopped struggling. "Who are you?" she asked finally, meeting the girl's beautiful eyes. She smile gently. "My name is Eden," she said. "I've come to give you some food, Gisele. You've been unconscious for two days. You've lost a lot of blood and will be weak for a long time to come." Lightly she pressed her hand over Gisele's which lay bandaged and still on the cot. "Why did you do what you did?" she asked in a slow, pained voice. Her eyes were so large and innocent that Gisele began to wonder if she had ever encountered a patient who had attempted suicide. Gisele met her blue gaze unflinchingly. "Because I wanted to be with him," she said in a tight, emotionless voice. "I will b...

The birdcage was like a little temple, with smooth white lines and a domed roof. The birdcage was like a prison with confining metal bars. The birdcage was fashioned like a small white palace. The birdcage was like a white eggshell, the yellow canary at its center. Like a white moon, the little birdcage illuminated the vast space of the room with its cheer. The birdcage was an asylum, and the canary its sole inmate. The birdcage was a sultan's palace, and the canary its pasha. The birdcage was a harem, and the small canary its pleasure-giver. The birdcage was a white church in vast space, and its singing canary a preacher of glad tidings. The birdcage was a prison in which its inmate served in solitary confinement. The birdcage hung from a hook like an ivy planter. The birdcage hung suspended like a little white moon in the sky. Like a white temple of ancient Atlantis, the birdcage hung suspended in the air. The birdcage hung carelessly from its metal rod like a bucket of water fro...

Around, all around, the angels gather. My dread grows as the stroke of death falls against my heart. It smites me, and darkly my life's blood drips to the broken ground. In my madness I cry out while death laughs cruelly. Now alone, my supplication falls upon uncaring eyes. This is because of you

Beautiful and melancholic, you strive to cope with horrors in your past. You are kind but still not sure what you life is for and since living for yourself is not enough, you try to protect those that are important to you at all costs. Manga- What Alichino Character Are You? brought to you by Quizilla

1. Grab the nearest book. 2. Open the book to page 23. 3. Find the fifth sentence. 4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions. "I'll demolish the first who puts me out of temper." Wuthering Heights , Emily Bronte

Very fragile. Very little. Always correctly dressed in white. Through the house her footsteps sounded disciplined and so polite. Dusting, watering flowers too, with busy, little housewife's hands. Baking bread. Walking in the park, writing letters to family and friends. Loving sister. Obedient daughter. A daily game with dolls and house. But deep inside were fires flaring as the silent screams arose. Behind locked doors of maiden's chambers with embroideries and lace lay a stranger, known to no one. Much too lonely. Much too brave. She's like a cold, unfeeling surgeon listening to her naked pain. As her pillow hindered screaming while doing autopsy on her own brain. Translated by Liv Wenger