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Life-Thirsty Leech
When she arrived home, Lisa was exhausted. Every footstep was heavier as she made it to her room. She used to be an artist. Everything she touched turned into the most exquisite forms of art. But that was the past, and reality came crashing back. She got undressed to take a shower. “What´s the point anyway?” She asked herself. Her mind drifted to past memories of abusive friends and careless parents. But suddenly it got quiet. She no longer cared. She got dressed and looked in the mirror to see her fragile, pale body. Colorless, except for this small, black lump in her back. It wasn’t there before. Was it some sort of leech? She tried to painfully pull it off. Blood came out but the leech didn’t.
The door opened abruptly, her grandmother came in. Smile on her face, a lovely warm sandwich on her hands. She noticed Lisa’s concern and her eyes caught a glance at the leech. Reassuringly, she helped her into her nightgown and led her to the kitchen. They walked past her father, eyes fixed on the TV as usual. Granny prepared two cups of cocoa and with a pinch of salt the leech was gone.
That night, Lisa didn’t dream. She knew her dreams where naïve. So her brain stared boringly at the black curtain while her body rested. The next morning, she woke up to go to school. “What´s the point any way?” She asked herself. “Might as well stay and sleep.” The bed reeled her in and she felt fast asleep. When she woke up she felt that her fingers were numb. She opened her eyes and stared at them. She glanced at the rest of her body and to her surprise she found 4 more leeches. 4? There where 6 of them.
She tried to remove them. She used up all the salt in the house but they wouldn’t come off. “Why cant I do anything right” she said to herself. 5 more leeches appeared on her leg. Frustrated and annoyed she walked out the door. As she walked she asked herself so many questions. Her mind couldn’t stop spinning. Why did she even choose art? She wasn’t good enough! From what would she live? Would her parents ever approve? How would she ever outgrow her passion? The questions where endless and a feeling of disgust took over her. She hated herself. Her mind suddenly started to calm down. She felt weak and nauseous. The pain started in his stomach. She glanced at her belly, to see the hundred leeches sucking her blood. Her arms and legs where also covered by them. She felt her heart struggling to pump the last of her blood. She felt her life being sucked out of her. The show was over. A black curtain rolled in front of her eyes. No sound could be heard.
She woke up the next day in her bed. She stared at her walls. Not a single white space. She saw the colourful pictures of her travels. Africa, South America, Asia. In between the collage pictures: loads of art. (Paintings, drawing and sculptures.) This was her life. She remembered that morbid dream and remembered she would not let any kind of leech suck the life out of her. This was her life.
