Prologue (Crit and Comment please)

Prologue

            I stood on the edge of reality, the sea stretching before my naked feet. I let out a soft sigh as I looked over the edge of the cliff I was perched on, my life hanging from the brink of destruction. I could hear the waves crashing against the shore, the wind carrying the thunderous sound for miles.

 My heart raced as I watched the seagulls dance across the sky, their voices crying out in the joy of freedom, carrying them further away on the winds of change. How I wish I could join them. I was trapped. Why am I so pathetic?

I stood still, absorbing the atmosphere. The salt was so heavy in the air; I could taste it in the back of my throat. The soft sea breeze danced across my dark red hair. I stood against the wind, a dying flame facing a hurricane. When I opened my eyes, my breathe caught in my throat as I looked over the edge again, studying the rocks. They were jagged claws jutting from the cliff bottom, just beneath the water, waiting to catch their prey. The water welcomed me, glinting with the light of the barely visible sun, washing away the blood stains of self-hatred. The ocean shimmered like a jewel. How hard could it be?

I shifted my weight to my left foot and felt the soft, moist moss against my heels. The moss formed a blanket along the cliff face, a façade, a kind glove disguising the hands of hell. The ocean stretched on into the horizon. I closed my eyes and thought about my life, how miserable I was. I had never been part of a fully functioning family, and I never would be again. My father had died when I was young, and now my mother, murdered by the hands of fate.

“Why can’t I just have a normal family?” I thought aloud, “Why does everything have to be so hard, so complicated. These birds have it simple, why can’t I?” At this point I was screaming to the Heavens. I was angry at God, I hated him. It was his fault that my mother was killed, and it was his fault I was stuck where I was, “Why do I have to be alone?”

“Why am I here, what is your point in creating me, was it just some cruel joke?” I screamed at the top of my lungs, but it barely came out as a whisper over the crash of the waves.

“I hate what you did to my family,” I screamed, “You took her away from me, why?”

“Why did you take my mother away?” I demanded. The only answer was the cry of the seagulls. I stared over the edge.

“Why?” Tears streamed down my face, each drop hitting my tattered jeans like bullets. I fell to the ground, clenching the moss between my cold, aching fingers.

            “What am I doing?” I stood up, my legs weak, and turned to walk away. I thought of my mother’s face and out of anger, spun and threw myself off of the top of the cliff. The wind picked up as I plummeted towards the rocks. My heart raced as I fell through the sky. I was finally free. No one can hold me back. The wind was a roar in my ears, a deafening, welcomed, sound. I felt the cold chill of the water against my skin and my body lurched. The frozen water welcomed my empty body. I had no soul. I had no purpose.

            My eyes flew open, and I stared around me. I wasn’t in the water; I was still in a little white room, filled with test tubes and bodies. A man stood by a laptop on a desk, typing in his meaningless calculations. I stared at the ceiling, a tear falling down my face.

            I’m never going to be free…