Inkling_2026_Digital - Flipbook - Page 22
disease.” My brows furrowed. How can
somebody so young develop such a bad
disease? I felt pity for her. I knew I should
have stopped reading it, but I couldn’t put
it down. The poor girl… She was going into
episodes, she didn’t know where she was
and yet she yearned for the old memories
of what was once her life—her childhood.
Of course that wasn’t mentioned but I
could simply tell.
Overwhelmed with pity and sorrow, I set
the folder down. My heart hurt for her.
I got up, not wanting to be stuck in this
pale room for God knows how long.
Getting up, I began to wander o昀昀 into
the hospital. Alarms blared as I walked,
so I ignored them, not trying to worry
myself even more. I clasped my stomach.
It suddenly hurt. When was the last
time I went to the bathroom? I couldn’t
remember, so I kept walking till I found a
bathroom.
As I go inside, I saw a mirror in front of
me, but I didn’t recognize the person
looking back at me. I walked closer and
caress the re昀氀ection. It really is me… My
eyes darken. My mind raced.. What is
going on?!
I looked at the door, but I was too
22 | INKLING 2026
disoriented to walk over. My heart felt like
it was pounding out of my head. The girl
in the mirror matched the girl on the 昀椀les.
Alzheimers? I didn’t know what that was.
Wait—what did the lady even look like? I
was too confused to remember. I needed
that re昀氀ection to go away, so I clenched
my 昀椀st and punched the mirror.
A crack.
Again, and again, it 昀椀nally shattered all
over the 昀氀oor, and yet it wasn’t enough.
My mind still raced, only this time, my
昀椀st was bleeding and it wouldn’t stop. I
desperately tried to wipe the blood o昀昀
but it just kept gushing and gushing. And
so I dropped to my knees and grabbed
a chunky, thick shard of glass. I angled
it and sliced the side of my neck deeply.
I screamed in pain, and I could hear
footsteps rushing to me as I counted
silently.
One.
Two.
Three.
And everything soon went black.
Mary is a runner-up in the Short Story
category for this year’s Teen Writing
Contest.
