Takeover

It all starts with a single seed.

A tiny, imperceptible seed of thought or emotion. An uneasy feeling that you could swear wasn’t there a minute ago.

It has no apparent trigger. It’s not the outcome of a recent occurrence. It doesn’t have any visible relevance to the previous moments of the day.

Like the Big Bang, it expands within you in less than milliseconds. What was an annoying moment becomes an overwhelming state of mind.

There’s no going back now. The pull is too strong and it warps everything around it. The word “right” is not a part of your mind’s vocabulary anymore.

There are no whites. No goods. No positive sides.

You’re in the land of jet black.

The forest is so dense that you can’t even see the grass or the road. Everywhere you look is trunks, locking you in like a prisoner.

There is no light. No tunnel. No way out and no way back.

You try to think back to the moment all the grays disappeared but all you can recall is being here, feeling desperate. It’s as if you have never been elsewhere. You were born here and you will die here.

You want to yell but words won’t cooperate. You want to cry but your eyes are dry. You want to ask for help but there’s no one around.

You’re alone.

Anger rises within you. “Stop this,” you yell at your mind. You think of all the suffering people in the world. The people with real problems.

You start naming the good things in your life, but it doesn’t even flinch. The goods morph into not so great. They might even be bad. It has taken over your sense of judgement, perception and memory. It doesn’t like to leave loose ends.

Maybe resistance is a stupid idea.

Giving up seems to be the best option. Just thinking about it covers you with a sense of relief. Maybe the dark is not so bad after all. Maybe you’ve belonged here all along.

The phone rings. You say, “Hello?”

The voice is cheerful. “Hi, honey, just checking up on you.”

A single tear escapes.

Previously? Cynical Copout.