Paper Walls (971 hits)
Category: Quotes & StoriesRating: 1.85 on 29 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Butters (View user info) at 2005-10-06 07:10:09 EDT
They keep it too hot down here.
It's dusty and airless with no windows - no sun to lighten the weight of the shadows, to ease the oppression. It's just like all of the best prisons; murky, lonely. A silence older than sin that swallows sounds, deadens them until they're flat and hollow. Empty sounds.
But at least it's dry.
It's a punishment, of a sort. An inherited one, bestowed upon us by our forebears and borne stoically until we are released. A cross that we all bear but never discuss; a shameful secret.
My prison walls are made of paper.
Decades of prisoners before me have built them strong and thick and I add to them piece by piece. I am crushed by them; ancient walls of yellowed paper that absorb the light. They make shadows deeper than I've seen elsewhere and ghosts of the builders whisper around me, building forever. Their history has been built in, parts of it layered deep down beneath the newer stratum like tree rings. They speak of time gone by, of prisoners past and promising prisoners to come. Their voices are as dry as leaves, the rustling of the paper. If I listen hard enough I can almost understand what they're saying.
I clutch the pile of building material they gave me to my chest and inhale it's dryness, feel it shifting, rustling. I touch the walls of paper, feel how solid paper can be and I add.
I add coloured paper, scraps of expensive thick company-headed paper, card, skin-thin typewriter paper. Building the walls of my own prison, building them strong and carefully. A patchwork of colour, of white and cream and the pale sickly yellow of age.
Another piece is added.
I wonder if I'm missed. I wonder if the others are silent, serious and sad as I myself have felt during the confinement of others. The funereal passing of one of my companions, material clutched to their chests as mine is now, faces brave. All eyes watching. It's a sight that stays with you.
I'm hot and tired and my mouth is full of dry old paper dust, flat and dead tasting.
Another piece is added.
I build the walls of my own prison and my mind is resigned and empty.
Another piece is added.
I sink to the ground, so very tired.
I can't remember when I came here, time means nothing when the light does not change and the sounds do not filter through, all the tiny adjustments to light and movement that suggest time of day are absent. Perhaps it's been hours; perhaps days but the heat and the dry air are wearing.
I pick despondently at the wall and a tiny piece falls to the ground. A tiny scrap of paper. Half a forgotten symbol curls around the tear and it joins the other leaf scraps on the ground. I reach up and add another piece.
The door opens and I'm blinded.
Cool fresh air floods in, sweet and clean, washing my lungs, my mouth.
It's my jailer, my prison guard, the one who sent me here to build.
I scramble up guiltily, blinking in the light, the paper clutched to my chest still.
"Are you still filing in here?" she asks.
"Can't we just make one of the temps do this?"
I hear my voice whining, and it shames me.
"They're busy. Hurry up; we need you back on the phones for lunch cover"
The door shuts and I'm alone.
I sigh, and another piece goes up.
I fucking hate filing.
User Reviews
Submitted by paint_it_black (user info) at 2006-10-20 07:24:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
ub bu bub ubu b uu u ububu bu bu bu bu bub
Submitted by c1ndy (user info) at 2006-04-13 03:14:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by c1ndy (user info) at 2006-04-05 09:09:00 (#)
Ranking: 2
email me cindy penney at g mail dot com. I'd love my book . I got sick of the uberbooks thing and have deleted all reference to it on my computer!
----
or uberc1ndy.at.gmail.com is fine.
Submitted by matnotharry (user info) at 2006-04-05 09:24:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
It can't be THAT bad.
Mundacity rocks
Submitted by c1ndy (user info) at 2006-04-05 09:09:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
email me cindy penney at g mail dot com. I'd love my book . I got sick of the uberbooks thing and have deleted all reference to it on my computer!
Submitted by Merlina (user info) at 2005-10-07 06:47:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
just had to come back and read it again. I love this Mandy..
Submitted by trent_nz (user info) at 2005-10-06 19:22:38 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
lol this is awesome omg... i hate filing
Submitted by Crystle (user info) at 2005-10-06 18:57:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Perfect.
Thank you!
Submitted by jumpinjellyfish (user info) at 2005-10-06 17:14:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I think this proves that SPT is finally dead!
Submitted by Draqus (user info) at 2005-10-06 17:07:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2005-10-06 16:49:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Adereterial (user info) at 2005-10-06 15:55:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This was good.
Submitted by houseman (user info) at 2005-10-06 15:49:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Davros (user info) at 2005-10-06 15:39:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I liked this a lot.
-Dave
Submitted by HadToBeDone (user info) at 2005-10-06 12:27:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by ruthless (user info) at 2005-10-06 11:58:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Cool!
Submitted by CookieLass (user info) at 2005-10-06 11:54:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Motherfucker, Amanda... I never knew you had it in ya!
Submitted by Confuzitron (user info) at 2005-10-06 11:13:26 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Oh, God yes!
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2005-10-06 10:56:26 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-10-06 10:45:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This rocked.
Submitted by AshK (user info) at 2005-10-06 10:27:18 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Excellent
Submitted by stardamage (user info) at 2005-10-06 10:19:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by CJRipley (user info) at 2005-10-06 10:03:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
!
Submitted by mikethescottish (user info) at 2005-10-06 09:30:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
There's loads of excellent posts today. I'm quite shocked.
Submitted by Cadrach (user info) at 2005-10-06 09:30:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
"ghosts of the builders" and "like tree rings" were excellent.
"Building my own prison" sounds like you've been listening to too much Creed (never a good thing).
I thought I knew where this was going pretty early on, but the writing was pretty enough that I didn't care.
Submitted by Pentameter (user info) at 2005-10-06 09:05:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by ozzy (user info) at 2005-10-06 07:30:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This was quite good. Nice ending.
Submitted by Merlina (user info) at 2005-10-06 07:28:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
yay you put Butters!
that gave me goose bumps..
Submitted by Berty (user info) at 2005-10-06 07:27:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I quite enjoy filing, apart from the horrible mental images of papercuts on your eyeball that flash through the mind occaisonally.
Submitted by apollo88 (user info) at 2005-10-06 07:12:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Yes Comment