The noises were loud. Frantic. She didn’t know how to quieten them. Tell them to stop. To stop the torture there were constantly meting on her. She clutched her head so tightly, her ebony arms were streaked with veins, and her eyes squeezed so shut, she began to see stars in her mind’s eye. She wanted someone to make it stop.
Just make it stop.
Anyone.
Please.
The mocking voices in her head seemed to increase with that plea. As if mocking her audacity to ask them to stop. The criticisms and the self-condemnation skyrocketed to a volume, so high, she felt herself giving in, sinking deep. She was exhausted and maybe if she let go, embracing the darkness, letting it consume her, she would be whole. Free.
“Are the voices too loud?”
She paused, certain she was dreaming. Whose voice was that? Was this a new form of mockery devised by the voices in her head?
“Have they quietened?” The voice called again. No, it couldn’t be the voices in her head. This was way too calm. Way too comforting. A hand touched her shoulder, lightly and her eyes flicked to meet the face of the most beautiful being she had ever met. He had a face of worry etched on his pretty face, even though his general aura was that of serenity. Bliss.
She couldn’t bring herself to speak as she gazed at him, already lost in the kind pools of his eyes. The voices in her head were quiet too, she noticed. Maybe they were also enraptured by the man in front of her. One could only hope. He let out a smile then and if she wasn’t already lost, she fell way deeper in awe of the specimen in front of her.
What was happening to her?
“Who are you....and how do you know about the voices?” Her voice was tremulous. Disbelieving.
“Let’s just say that I’ve been there more times than I can count, so I can recognize the signs.” He added after a pause. “Can I sit?”
She was still unable to speak so she calmly shifted a bit to the side. It was embarrassing the fact that she kept looking at him sheepishly without saying a word. But her sessions usually left her empty and voiceless. She wished she could point that out but the look on his face told her that he already knew what was going on and that he understood.
He didn’t say anything more and just looked ahead, after flashing another warm smile on her. When she felt like she could now speak, she said quietly. “The voices have stopped.”
“l could tell. You look..... better.”
She was suddenly conscious of herself and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Willing to quench the sudden discomfort she felt at their proximity, she asked, “How did you learn to quiet the voices?”
“It wasn’t easy and I don’t even know if they went on their own volition, but when it felt consuming, I constantly thought of a single thing that made me happy and plugged my mind and heart into it, they receded and soon enough, as I constantly did it, they stopped.” He finished with a light in his eyes.
She was befuddled. “That’s it? I should think of what gives me peace and everything would be over?” Her face already began to light up when it shut off. She had no one to think of. No one to incite peace in her. Then she looked at those warm eyes and her face brightened once again. But he stood up and began to walk away.
“Wait!” She called out. “You never told me what your name is?”
He flashed those warm pools on her with a smile. “My name is King.” And off he went.
She smiled long after he had gone. The voices in her head were still quiet. High volume extinguished, she had a feeling knew she would never hear them again. But if she did, she’d found her peace.
My extended entry to 
