Monsters Of The Mind

Samantha sat on the edge of her bed, the room dimly litted by the soft glow of a night light. It has been years since she saw them last, but tonight they were back. The whispers. They slithered into her thoughts, insidious and persistent, turning her own mind against her. It's your fault, they hissed, you could have done more.

Samantha's life has been hell. She didnt want this, but it came for her. The mistakes of her past came back hitting her. Things she had to do but didn't have the courage to, came back haunting her. Things she could never have done came back tormenting her, poisoning her mind and degrading her self-esteem. Samantha was born into a noble family of six. Her three siblings, a sister and two brothers with Samantha being the first born. She had a good education, went to one of the best high schools in the state. She had good records of academic excellence, good social reputation and a kind nature. Her kind hearted nature made others look up to her. Indeed, she was all someone could ask for in a friend. It just had to be that at the stage of adulthood, life had to throw its challenges so tough for her to handle.

Its indeed funny how life tough tests could turn one good soul into something else, to make it worse, traumatize and haunt the person for the rest of his or her life. This was the case of Samantha. On this night, the whispers grew more and more louder than ever before. It seem to Samantha that she may not come out of this one. One voice was enough to cause her distress, let alone multiple voices. Agitated, Samantha laid on her bed, covering her blanket over her face wishing to sleep it off, but the silence of the night wasn't helping, as the whispers kept on growing. She took the pillow and covered her ears in attempt to escape the voices but the state of the darkness of the surrounding of her face and the pillow made the whispers more vicious. She quickly got up, in a sad state, with tears about to fall from her eyes. At this point, Samantha felt like the voices were not just in her head but were more like spirit entities lurking around her. She walked towards her window, unveiled the curtains and looked at the vast neighborhood and into the night sky. The voices kept on coming. This time, it seemed like the voices were coming from the open ends of the neighborhood. Samantha turned to look at her wall clock, it was barely ten minutes past twelve, nothing close to daybreak for her to be free from the whispers. "Should I go to a night club?" , Samantha thought as she was used to the lifestyle of her family background; clubbing wasn't their thing and was strongly against it.

Knowing too well that the voices wouldn't let her sleep, she went to her sitting room to get a cup of coffee and think over her life. With the cup of coffee in her right hand, leaned on the sofa, looking up to her wall pictures of people she loves; her friends and family. A light smile sparkled on her face when she remembered all the good times she ever had with them. Suddenly, the smile faded away when a tragic event popped into her mind, bringing the voices back. "This is all your fault"; "you did this to them" two voices said. Samantha began sobbing, she faced down, covered with her hand, wishing someone or something will comfort and assure her that it's not her fault. Samantha waved her head back and forth, right and left, looking for what she could do to clear her mind off the whispers. She turned on the TV, the only midnight show was nothing more than a tragedy movie show that could trigger bad memories. Feeling uncomfortable, she quickly turned if off. Samantha stood up walking around the perimeter of the sitting room, looking at the pictures on the wall. Each picture she looked at prompted a whisper in relation to her actions against the victim. "The more I stay here, the more these voices will come and won't go away" Samantha thought.

She went to her kitchen, with the intention of cooking a quick midnight snack but the ingredients she had in mind weren't available. Samantha closed her eyes in frustration, took a deep breathe, determined to get a positive energy around her. She faced up and could see a book on the center table of her kitchen. She decided to explore the book. Fortunately, it was a book full of adventures. Samantha sighed in relief, at last, she could find something to keep her mind from the voices. Haven read a line in the book that portrays two friends together, she looked up, remembering her best friend, Miriam smiling. Miriam was one friend, one person who understood Samantha a hundred percent time though her own parents and siblings couldn't. To Samantha, Miriam was like a part of her. Samantha continued reading the book, sitting on her sofa, as she read further, the whispers were disappearing gradually.

Sunrise came, Samantha woke up, laying on the sofa with the book on her chest. She rubbed her eyes and looked around herself in surprise. She didn't realize when she had fallen asleep, for the sleep was deep due to the long day she had before and the disturbances of the night . Samantha felt good because she could sleep and didn't stay awake all through night. She stood up, with smiles brimming on her face, went into her bathroom, brushing her teeth, looking at the reflection of her face in the mirror. It was looking good and she could see that. Soon after, she came out of the shower, dried herself up, put on her clothes and sat at her makeup table. She looked up at her makeup mirror, her face was even brighter than before and felt no need to apply makeup for she was naturally beautiful. Samantha left for work. As ahe went outside, she looked up in the sky and around the neighborhood, it was indeed a bright day. Samantha went on to the street across the neighborhood to board a taxi. In the taxi, Samantha sat very close to the window, looking at the streets, passers-by, events, shops, all she could get her eyes on, it was a simple yet joyful view for her. Samantha worked in an accounting firm, it was not just her academic excellence and intelligent quotient that got her there, but also her social quotient and jovial nature. She arrived at her workplace, hoping it will be a good day of work because work has its good and bad days.

Samantha went in, observing everyone busy at their posts. She went to her post, dropped her bag, about to prepare her space for work. A colleague of hers bursted in, "Hi Sam! Whats up?" , exclaimed the colleague. "Hey Gina, how's it going?" "Not bad, whoa Sam you're looking so bright today" "Really, thanks Gina, you're not looking bad either". Samantha said smiling. "Thank you!, last night was OMG, it was so wonderful" Gina said smiling at her fullest. "Really?, tell me about it" Samantha asked with the thought that Gina was either at a party, with her partner or maybe someone surprised her with gifts. "I slept like a baby last night, no disturbances of any sort, its been a while I had that kind of good sleep, work and keeping up with home priorities you know... it was so enjoyable, how was yours?" Gina said. On hearing this, the smiles that been on Samantha's face disappeared, making her remember the whispers of last night which hindered her night sleep. Gina noticed the sad look on Samantha's face, Is there something wrong Sam?, she asked worried. No, no Gina, my night was fine as well, I had a good sleep,Samantha lied, she didn't want to be a mood spoiler or seem like she's unhappy for her colleague. Gina was skeptical about Samantha's response. "Are you sure?" she asked. "Yep Gina, I slept like an infant" Samantha answered with a fake smile. "Okay then, we better get back to work... see you later, bye", Gina joked and left.

Samantha was no longer smiling, as she was worried that later in the night again the voices might come back. She couldn't focus on work due to thoughts and fear. It affected her communication with customers, interaction with co-workers, it was as if her body was at work, but her soul wasn't. It was four o'clock in the evening, everyone were preparing to leave. Samantha was still seated. Gina was about leaving when she turned and saw Samantha still on her seat starring at her blank computer screen. She wanted to approach her but hesitated. "I think its best to leave her alone, I feel there's something wrong with her but she can't open up, well whatever it is I hope she gets through it" Gina said to herself in sympathy for Samantha and left. Samantha sat on her seat, afraid to go home untill she noticed the security guard coming in to lock the building. This was the only thing that prompted her to stand up and leave. Samantha later got home after visiting the store to get items for dinner, it was around 6:30pm. She quickly dropped her luggage, took a shower and headed to prepare dinner.

Later in the night, around 10 pm, Samantha went to bed, exhausted from the long day at work , hoping to get a good night sleep, the same as Gina's. She laid on her side, closed her eyes, suddenly, the whispers came back. Indeed what she feared throughout the day was here. Samantha closed her eyes tightly wishing them to stop, but the whispers grew louder, their words sinking deeper into her psyche, they were real as they had ever been.