Suffocating in the palpable tension that filled the air, she sat with her arms crossed and refused to meet their eyes. The lecture was always the same. She could repeat it verbatim and sometimes did, which angered them even more.
Their voices escalated as the barrage of insults was thrown at her like daggers. Their expectation level was unattainable. The longer she listened, the more the words slowly morphed into voiceless sound waves.
They would never know her real gift. Her body remained seated but her soul left, smiling. She found true peace within herself and took to the sky.
~~
Written for the 100 Word Song Challenge at My Blog Can Beat Up Your Blog. I’ve always been fascinated by stories of people claiming to be able to leave their physical body. I didn’t know the story was going that way, but who am I to argue with my muse?
polysyllabic profundities 
Absolutely loved this .
Thank you!
Beautiful finish! You’re fiction keeps getting better.
Wow….thanks very much. That comment just made my day! 🙂
And once again, my plan to undermine my nice guy persona backfires.
Seriously, you really have a talent for the short fiction.
Thanks again. I love doing it….there is something so challenging about the word limit and telling as full a story as possible.
I agree, your fiction is getting tighter and deeper. I like how the peace is a character.
Great interpretation of the lyrics and feel.
Thanks so much, Lance. I really appreciate your comment!
LOL! NEVER argue with your muse. This story is great! 😀
Thanks Dianne. It’s nice to get my mojo back after being brain-dead with Pneumonia for a few weeks. Hope things are going well with your WIP’s. 😀
I really loved the imagery you created. I could see the disconnected teen sitting as her parents lectured.
Thank you. 🙂
Really enjoyed this for many reasons. I like the tension that builds leading to her dissociation. When people go through trauma I think it happens that way. The mind can take so much then protects itself. You capture that so well. On a lighter note, it reminds me of Roald Dahl’s “Matilda”…I absolutely love that book.
Well done.
Thank you so much. I really appreciate the comments.
I’m so happy the song inspired your muse! One of the things I love about reading/writing fiction is the ability to go to places like this where a character gets to respond to a situation in a way that most of us feel we can’t. I think the key phrase here for me that brings it home is “their expectation level was unattainable.” It tells us that the character is feeling angry about being “not good enough” for Them, whether or not she agrees with their judgment. Great piece!
Thank you….and I appreciate the song choice for taking me where I went.
Throw my vote in for a piece of very tight fiction as well! I could literally see myself sitting across from my parents, my ex, and any other sorts of previous “authority figures” here, wishing for the ability to “take flight” – nicely done!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate your comment.
“…her soul left, smiling…” oh, I love that. That’s exactly it; we have the power to shut out the negativity being aimed at us from others and use our inner strength to rise above it. Beautiful thought provoking stuff!
Thanks so much. If only we could harness that power more often!