Roll Over

“It hurts… it hurts… it hurts…”

I clutched my head. Tears streamed down my face. I didn’t know what was worse – the pain or the slimy touch of caked blood across my head.

It was gone… gone… everything all gone!

I looked down to see it all there, the hair that had been sheared away. A bloody pair of scissors rested on the floor, making me realize what had happened. I didn’t even need a mirror to confirm.

Was it a dream, or was it reality? I couldn’t tell anymore…

For the longest time, I wanted to escape. I simply wanted to live somewhere else, anywhere, since this room became a prison. Even without bars on the door, society had kept me isolated. Even without shackles, I found myself never wanting to step outside anymore. The walls were too thick. The desire for escape was too strong.

So I shut it all out. I sewed a place of my own, patchwork of whatever I could find, pretending that it was all perfect instead. Hiding from what wasn’t.

But somehow… even my imagination ran too wild.

I dreamt of puppets that came after me, furious at my childish tantrums, vengeful against my obsessions. Even in the solace of my own mind, such things had been rejected. The dream started to unravel.

“I did this to myself…”

A sigh of resignation escaped my lips. My weary eyes looked around the room, but there was no longer any salvation. They had all abandoned me. Just like I had abandoned them.

My nails scraped across the floor as I inched forward, my memory still fuzzy.

When was the last time I knew the difference between real or not? I had to know the answer. Had I fallen even deeper in the dream, or was I finally out?

“Mother! Are you there?”

Silence was my reply. I bit my lip as I crawled to the edge of my bedroom of this tiny apartment. The door had been left ajar, but no one was home.

My body felt weak. My stomach growled with the pangs of starvation. I had soiled myself many times over, so much time had passed since anyone had bothered to check that I existed. So much time had passed since anyone cared.

Ah… even Mother has abandoned me.

But as I reached the door, I saw another person lying on the floor. My heart jumped for a moment before it crashed again. Morbid guesses sapped my drive forward, causing me to fall over.

I reached out and tugged on the leg of the only person living here besides me – Mother.

The weight of a corpse was too much for my thin arms, which had done nothing but sew for years. But pulling myself forward was barely manageable.

By the time I had crawled my way on top of Mother’s body, the cold stare of death haunted my gaze. A pool of dried blood spread out from her neck, where a pair of scissors had been lodged.

Suddenly, I remember what had happened.

Mother had come to check on me, a rare moment when she had decided that I was more important than work. Seeing my overgrown hair, she decided to fix it. To make it perfect again.

And I… I…

A wail escaped my throat.

I had forgotten, lost in an imaginary world to escape from reality. But somewhere in my mind, reason still existed. It came back to punish me. It came back to wake me from my dream and face what I had done.

With that, the final unraveling had been done.

A loud bang sounded on the front door, pulling me out of my sorrow.

“Police! Is everything alright? Please open up!”

Several more bangs echoed, each bringing down the weight of my crime. I pounded the ground, knowing that this was the end I deserved. The dream was sweet while it lasted, but dreams didn’t last forever.

I collapsed beside my mother, reaching out to hold her hand one last time.

v

The sun was far too bright. Living as a shut-in had made the outdoors too painful for me. But now, I had no choice. I felt myself being dragged, the murmurs of policemen gathered at a crime scene around me. There was no doubt they could tell what had happened. The handcuffs were proof of that.

I gulped as the pair dragging me came to a stop, and I looked up to see a policeman in a wide-brimmed cap bearing down at me.

“It doesn’t look good for you,” he said.

“I know,” was all I could say.

“Your crimes are terrible. It’s unfortunate, but you’ll have to come with us.”

“Yes…”

I braced myself for it, the sentence of a criminal. Finally, everything would be put to rest.

“Jen, Caeli, Mara, Moon, Cecilia – how about doing the honors?”

Another voice, a female cop, chimed in.

“Gem, Nato, Terry, Ash, Eliza – remember that he’s human. Put away the scissors.”

Confusion at these statements made me look up. Next to the policeman was a blue-haired lady in uniform, tenderly embracing him.

Past them, a line of ten human-sized dolls walked forward, each pulling out a small axe from behind them. They tapped the ends of the axe against their palms, striking up a single beat.

The first ten approached to let the little one know.

“Roll Over! Roll Over!”

We all watched silently as the crimes built up.

“Roll Over! Roll Over!”

The policeman tipped his cap up, revealing a face that looked just like mine. The only difference was that his pupils were button shaped.

I could only gawk helplessly as the dolls approached, axes held high. They were all too happy to add a little dance to let the fear and hopelessness sink in.

So we’ll each take turns and have fun with you.

“Roll Over! Roll Over!”

As long as our dream lives on, you’ll never die.

“Roll Over! Roll Over!”

Would I ever be able to escape? Would they ever let me forget? All I knew was that I was at their mercy now.

The dream had become a nightmare.

End