The Fortress' Hold || The Inkwell January Contest

"Barbara…Charles…Laura..," I chant the names of my beloved again and again to stay sane. How am I hot yet cold at the same time?

My multiple layers of clothing don't protect me from the chill seeping into my bones. I'm hot inside like my organs are on fire. Beads of sweat roll down my neck into my back yet I shiver, my teeth shattering against each other. Every breath feels like a sharp stab in my chest, as the cold air sends shivers down my spine.

I've been locked up for years in this high-security fortress. The mystery is, I don't know what my crime is which fuels my desperation to get out of this place.

The cells are cramped, damp and dark. The only source of light is a tiny window high above and out of my reach. I can't even see the ceiling if there is one. Just an endless dark height.

The walls are towering and made of stone, with guards stationed at every corner. I speak to the guards but they don't respond, moving around like robots.

I lie awake through the night plotting my escape, but the fortress is impenetrable. Or so I thought.

Then I fall asleep and hear their voices, my wife and children, pleading with me to come back to them. I wake up to find my pillow soaked with a mixture of my tears and sweat.

"Barbara…Charles…Laura..," I whisper to myself like an insane person as I continue to search my cell. My fingernails crack and bleed because of past attempts to climb the wall.

I try again, having identified the crevices in the walls. Struggling to maintain my grip on the wall, I break out in cold sweat. I go past the point where I fell off the previous day, my shoulder blades and lower back on fire from the strain.

"Daddy? Can you hear me? I - um, I miss you so much. Mummy won't stop crying because she misses you too. I made a fine drawing for you today. Charles says you will like it. Do you like it?" Laura's soft, musical voice reaches my ear out of nowhere, echoing in the dark cell, like a dream.

I stiffen and glance around. My imprisonment makes me hallucinate, the darkness feeding me with bits of my family's lives which I see as a cruel compensation. "I'm trying, Laura. Laura? Can you hear me?" I say and wait. Maybe she will hear me today.

Complete silence.

I lay my head on the stony walls and sob from the longing and disappointment.

Then a whisper of wind touches my face. I glance up and see I'm almost close to the window. I grip another crevice and stretch my other hand to touch and feel the window.

It's a glass window but it's shut. I don't have the strength to push or else I may fall back to the ground and probably break my leg or back.

Then my fingers touch something cold. I hold my breath and pat the window sill again, touching the metal.

It's a key!

I grab it and slowly make my way down. My legs are wobbly so I lay on the cold ground. I begin to make a plan as my heart races in excitement. I finally find the key to my freedom. Somehow, I know it is. But I must be careful to get past the guards and slip out without notice. My eyelids droop…

"Sweetheart. Your hands are so cold. I don't know what's happening and wish you would talk to me. Anything. Give me a sign…," Barbara whispers into my ears and I force my eyes open.

I hold the bars of the cell and peer outside. The guards move slowly, changing positions at intervals in front of other cells. The one standing near a large white door that leads outside is stationary. I wonder why no guard is posted to my cell.

I quietly insert the key into the lock. It fits in. I hold my breath and very slowly turn the key while keeping my eyes on the unsuspecting guards.

Click.

I freeze, just as the guards turn their heads towards the direction of my cell at same time. Robots.

I don't bother to think about how I will get past them. The key works! I push my cell door open with a bang and jump out. The guards rush towards me all at once.

I can't stand at my full height because of my hurting lower back. Instead, I roll on the ground, tripping the guards as they fall over me. I count five of them. The sixth one hits me on the head with a club. I grab his legs and pull. He falls.

I can feel the pounding of my heartbeat.

"Is daddy okay?" Laura asks tearfully, as beep sounds reach my ears.

That is all the push I need. Who dares to make my baby girl cry? I hoist myself up, utter some sound like a battle cry and charge towards the towering guard near the large, white door. I push him with so much force that the door gives way and we both burst out of the fortress.

The atmosphere is cloudy white. There is no sound or noise. I watch as the guard screams. Though I can't hear him, his hands flail as he falls into an unseen depth.

Strangely, I hover in the space. I feel the wind in my hair and the cold night air in my lungs. For a moment, I feel free. I made it! I've escaped from the prison and it is time to find my family.

I glance up. My vision is blurry for a moment. I'm no longer in the clouds. I blink rapidly and see people dressed in blue scrubs with white face masks over their noses and mouths. A ventilator and monitors beep rhythmically beside my bed.

Among these people is a pretty redhead peering down at me. "He's awake! Oh my God. Ezra, can you hear me?" That's my wife, Barbara.

I attempt a smile at her and she bursts into tears. My throat hurts. I try to speak but can't as something is stuck in my mouth all the way to my throat.

"Mr Marshall?" A man in blue scrubs asks. "Blink once for yes and twice for no. You have been in a coma for the past six months. Are you okay?"

I blink once. I can't take my eyes off Barbara and our children beside her.