'Agoraphobia'

She peered through a wisp of lace curtains to find him floating aimlessly across the water. His feet dangled carelessly over the boat's edge, a sliver of sugar cane hanging from his lip. The morning sun was sparkling dust on the vast surface of lake, and the world seemed to be at peace. Desperately, she wanted to rock with him in that little fishing boat. Just to open the damn window would be nice, but the mere thought of releasing the latch made her pale and her pulse thunder uncontrollably. It had been nearly 6 years since she'd left that house, and such a beautiful prison it was, a victorian fairy-tale filled with windows and windows and more windows for looking till her eyes were sore. She touched 4th story glass, pressed her skin against its cold smoothness and squeezed her lids shut, breath tangled and throbbing in her throat. Open...open....OPEN!! Quivering, she leaned over to breathe the garden's fragrance, to let go of the fear she clutched with white knuckles, to just...let go. He said she smiled, she smiled all the way down with her eyes wide open. There in the garden, her body lay shattered like a statue, blood swirling with the flow of a cherub fountain, her flesh finally pink again. Written January 2nd, 2002 © on Jan 02 2002 03:00 AM PST   0 • 10