When the room went dark, she heard her name. Amy knew who it was. It had been years since she heard from her. Of all times to come back, why now? When she is in captivity in a strange room.

“I hear you Cassandra, but I still can’t believe it,” Amy responded just before the words induced a throat clearing cough. She needed a drink of water. Badly.

“I have seen you in plenty of jams before, but this is by far the worst,” Cassandra responded in a whispered tone of concern.

“I am all alone here. I have to think. How did I get here?,” Amy thought aloud.

“You fell down into this basement and the bulkhead door closed in over you,” a passive voice answered through the confined space.

“Nope that’s not what happened! she was forced down here against her will,” another voice, much more aggressive, bellowed out so loud that it almost echoed through the cement room.

“Yes, she is right. You are down here not of your free will,” the passive voice countered. “I was just trying to keep you calm.”

“You are just trying to keep her calm, huh? By lying to her, is that the plan?!,” the aggressive voice added.

“Will everyone please stop for a moment,” said Amy’s inner core strength, trying to de-fuse the situation. “Go ahead Amy, share your thoughts with the group.”

 Amy puffed out her cheeks and covered her eyes. “I am going to need some quiet for a moment.”

“You heard the woman, Cassandra interjected. “Let’s all zip it.”

The darkened basement went silent.

I need to find my way out,” Amy said with her head now in her hands.

While she is only twenty-two, she has enough stamina to survive for long periods of time on limited food and water, but not enough strength to break the chain that is holding the bulkhead lid shut, thus preventing her escape.

Escape. There is a thought she hasn’t had in so long that it almost sounds foreign. Amy has been on autopilot for so long that it’s almost as if her identity has all but slipped away. For so long it feels like a million miles ago. Her true self shut down.