Unscathed
Someone called me beautiful. It came as a surprise, as I've never been called such a thing before, let alone be noticed. I had no idea what to do with the compliment, so I just put my hands in my pockets and kept walking. Succumbing to a growing guilt for not acknowledging the kind stranger, I grew distracted on the route home. I let my steps lead the way, and didn't notice the patch of unsalted ice that lay underfoot until my balance was gone.
It was quite beautiful to watch lush, thick red spread and merge with a blue so soft it could've been silver. The shapes and hues merged and shifted in such an ethereal beauty that I could've stayed there forever. Shattering that perfect vision like stones to a mirror, whispers of concern clouded around me one by one and I realized that I'd been half-consciously watching my blood pool on the ice.
Everything was wrong. The blood was threatening to melt through the ice as the ice countered with freezing the blood. They twisted and struggled in their quarrel as gasps rushed louder and louder through my head like a train through a tunnel. I couldn't take it anymore. Twisting and thrashing to my feet, I nearly fell again as I rushed away from the mystery that now lay behind me. I ran faster than I ever had before, suddenly feeling sick and desperate to rid myself of the feverish chaos that strangled my thoughts. A few tried to chase after me, but none could match my terrified haste. I didn't stop until I was at my front door, exhausted and confused. I ran inside, preparing to survey the wounds that lay beneath my soaked clothes. Peeling the blood-heavy layers from clammy skin, I braced for what I might see, but nothing came. I stood naked and unscathed in the tiny bathroom of my tiny apartment, but I did not feel relief or joy. I just stood there nauseous as I tried to make sense of it all. I knew I fell and I knew I was hurt. How else would my clothes be so bloody? I was so confused and so tired.
Suddenly my legs no longer held me. I don't know how long I spent naked and unconscious on that bathroom floor, but when I woke up it was dark and mom was screaming.