“Not great . . .” I sighed to myself.
“Why don’t you pull yourself up out of that well? Here!” he said and flung down a long thick rope that suspended in the air, leading to the top. The bottom of the rope landed at my feet.
I looked up at the rope and grabbed it with my hand. I gave it a hard tug to ensure it was actually capable of withstanding my weight. It didn’t budge, nor sway, when I pulled at it.
“Grrrrrrr,” I heard a low growl from behind me and turned around. It was that same cage from the hospital room, still covered with the beast hidden inside. I quickly diverted my attention from the beast, not wanting to provoke it with my curiosity.
I paced the bottom of the well, determining my best possible strategy for escape. My feet sloshed in the mud as I surveyed my surroundings.
“I guess there’s only one way out,” I said.
“Two ways, actually,” came a voice from behind me. I turned quickly to see Franklin materialize behind me, “You failed to notice this door.”
He displayed the wooden door with the key from before.
“It requires very little effort to simply turn the key and walk through it,” he said, his hand inches from the key, as if he himself was tempted.
“After you,” I said, folding my arms. He pulled his hand back into a fist and smiled.
“Well, if you’re so strong, then, by all means, take the difficult way out,” he sneered.
“I intend to,” I said, turning from him and gripping the rope. My foot slid in the mud which seemed to become deeper by the minute.
I yanked hard to try and pull myself up on the rope but found myself weighed down, as if I was dragging hundreds of pounds on my back.
“You didn’t think you could just climb to the top, did you? Would you look at that?” Franklin said, looking toward the ground. I glanced at the floor and saw several dodecahedron shaped, glowing orbs the size of human skulls strewn about the bottom of the well and soaking into the mud. Each one of them had a metal chain attached to it. The orbs glowed a crimson red through glassy material and faded in and out continuously, in a pulsing beat.
“What the. . .” I said, following the chains of these orbs, and realizing they were clamped into my skin, like giant fish hook piercings.
“You see, all those grudges, all that anger and hatred are weighing you down. How much are you willing to forgive in order to live?”
I stepped my foot back down from the rope, finding my foot almost fully immersed in water.
“Oh, better hurry and decide,” Franklin said, disappearing, and then reappearing at the top of the well, “But if you feel like giving up, remember there’s always the other door.”
I reached my hand into the water, grabbed one of the orbs, and found where it attached to my left arm. As I picked it up, the inside of the orb lit up, and I heard the voice of Grandma Elizabeth.
“I gave you my gift, knowing it would destroy you,” came the echo of her words from inside.
I surveyed the orb, knowing that in order to lose the weight of these grudges I would have to let them go, let them fall into the darkness forever. I would no longer be able to hide behind these things, never use them to justify my actions again.
“You were just a crazy, sad, old lady,” I said, as I unhooked the chain from my flesh and let it sink to the bottom of the well.
I grabbed another and picked it up. It was Caro.
“It was you or me, I had to do it,” Caro’s voice echoed. I pulled the hook from my left side and let it sink to the bottom.
I grabbed two more as the water began to rise faster.
“I swear, I didn’t know what was going on,” called Cindy’s voice.
“I should’ve been there for you guys. I knew something was wrong,” said my father’s voice.
“I knew you were sick and I manipulated you to get what I wanted,” said Joyce’s voice.
I unhooked each, one by one, from my right leg, one from my left shoulder, and one from my thigh. I could feel the weight falling into the depth of the water. I looked over at the rope again. Four orbs still dangled from my body, but the water was rising and I needed to make progress.
I gripped the rope and began pulling myself up, slowly. The weight was much lighter, but it was still nearly impossible to pull myself up. The chains clashed against each other, as I made minimal progress.
“Oh, you’re going to have to let go of more than that if you want to make it out of there,” called Franklin.
I reached for another one.
“I gave up. I was a coward. I just couldn’t face the world,” came the voice of my mother.
I held the orb for several moments. It wasn’t that I wasn’t ready to let go. I had spent so much time in my mind forgiving my mother for leaving that I had no hesitation in the idea of abandoning that hatred. It was the fact that it had been so long since I had heard my mother’s voice. It was the most beautiful sound. I found the chain attached to my chest and unhooked it, then held the rope with one hand and the orb with the other.
“I forgive you,” I said, I holding the orb to me tightly, then I kissed it and let it fall into the water below with a splash.
I reached quickly for another orb, only three left.
“You’re not going to survive this. I am going to break you,” said Franklin’s voice from inside the orb.
“You’re not even worth my hatred,” I said, pulling the hook from my ankle and letting it drop.
I had climbed almost five feet of the
