She sat there on the side of the velvet chaise. Her heartbeat was normal and her body slumped in a relaxed comfortable position. But in her eyes there was no denying the pain that was pushing against a screen of indifference. Her fingers clenched the scattered sheets as her gaze was fitted on the white mail box that shone like a beacon of holy light across the driveway. The air in the small room was stale and stagnant despite the current of wind that gusted through the screen on the window. The sounds of bird calls could be made out from beyond the stark walls of the homely prison but seemed as if to come from somewhere deep under water or far, far away.

Casually, the girl’s eyes drifted lazily to the ceiling where they remained fixed on the peculiar old-time light fixture that remained void of light and energy and seemed much like the girl; lifeless and absent from the world. The sounds of footsteps could be heard creaking slowly up the stairs that led to the room. If the girl had heard the noise, she didn’t respond outwardly toward it and instead returned her gaze to the indiscriminate mail box.

“Sally. Come away from the window dear. You’ve been here for some time now. Would you care for some lunch?” An older woman in her late fifties calmly questioned the girl as she stood in the doorframe, not daring to break the silent force field the room created.

The girl didn’t turn her head but if one were to look closely the slightest bob of her head could be seen as her fingers unclenched and her shoulders pulled back into a position more accustom of a debutante attempting to impress a judge. She rose sullenly, her eyes still staring stoically forward, and her lips parting slightly allowing her silent pleas to circle into the lifeless room and pool in the pointed corners of the ceiling. She blinked once, twice, three times as if to rouse herself from a nostalgic dream.

“Is there something the matter?” The woman with the graying hair and round spectacles pushed gently, placing a delicate hand on the girl’s shoulder.

The young lady flinched as if she had been struck by a fierce blow and strode swiftly past the woman into the main hallway. With a sigh of resignation, the woman followed the girl as they left the frigid room and entered the inviting hallway.