This Castle

You have a natural defense within you.

It’s made up of walls and barricades, guarding your hidden secret from the world. Soldiers stand side by side outside the barrier as an extra precaution. With forces alert, you feel slightly safer locked up in this tower you’ve settled yourself in. The tower stands tall with a versatile view of the kingdom you’ve built from scratch.

You remember the struggle of those years, picking up broken pieces and then slowly building the castle you feel so secure in. There were a couple of times when thieves came and destroyed everything you started constructing. Irritated and in tears, you would have to start from bits and chunks once more.

But finally, finally, this fortress you’ve taken countless hours to create is complete. A small sense of satisfaction settles within you as you stare out the windows of your tower. This land is at peace, and you are safe. You tell yourself: Everything is perfect. You couldn’t be more happy.

A commotion is set off near the base of your stronghold. You peer carefully out the window to see what’s going on. Your faceless defenders surround someone approaching your castle.

In an instant, your soldiers drop dead and you see a single thief has overcome your guards. He’s already making his way swiftly pass the other soldiers, nearing your own tower.

Up high, you follow his path and watch the way he maneuvers through the labyrinth you’ve built in case of a forced entry like this. He gets lost and puzzled a couple of times; nevertheless, he arrives at the end of the maze unharmed.

Your heartbeat quickens. You wonder what sort of trickery or charm he’s used to surpass the various defenses you had up.

Unsure of which way to turn, the thief first looks both ways before glancing upward, locking eyes with you. Entranced by his unwavering eyes, your breath catches in your throat. You can’t look away.

Giving you a complacent smile, he begins to head toward the tower you’ve locked yourself in. You leave your post at the window and make sure your single door is locked with the key kept securely on a chain around your neck.

On the other side of the door, you hear the familiar crashes and thuds of a skirmish. No challenger has ever made it inside your private tower. The soldiers will send him away, you reassure yourself.

So you keep your ear to the door, anxious and nervous. Eventually, the scuffle dies down. The silence is unsettling. You don’t know what’s happened.

“Hello?” you call out, hoping one of your unnamed defenders will reply.

No answer is given.

Cautiously, but curious, you take the key from your neck and unlock the tower door. You hesitantly crack open your door with only enough space for your eye to peek through.

The thief, the winner of the quarrel, slips his foot into the crack you’ve made. A small, surprised gasp escapes you as you try to close the door anyway, hoping he would withdraw his foot if you pushed hard enough.

“Aren’t you a damsel in distress?” he asks, keeping his foot in place. “Don’t you need saving?” He seems unaffected by the door you’re squeezing onto his foot. Maybe he’s too strong; maybe you’re strong enough. “Aren’t you imprisoned in this tower?”

“This detained tower isn’t meant to keep me in,” you tell him, your feet sliding on the floor. You realize the door’s soon going to open. “It’s to keep people like you out.”

Surprised, his eyebrows shoot up. “Why?”

You feel yourself falling. Quickly, you catch yourself, but lose your force on the door. The door flings open as you flee across the room, glowering at the thief.

“Get out,” you snarl, ready to bare your teeth.

“Make me,” he replies, walking into your private tower.

You back up a little, but don’t relax your tense stance as you continue to glare at him.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he assures you, taking a small step closer to you.

You shy away, your back already against the wall. With nowhere left to run, you meet your adversary with stone-cold eyes, concealing the fear already swarming in your stomach. “Liar.”

He glances around, taking in the messy tower you’ve lived alone in for so long. “Why are you hiding out in here?” he asks.

“It’s safe,” you reply.

“It looks boring,” he counters.

“It’s safe,” you repeat.

“I bet. Why don’t you break out of this confined prison?”

“I can’t trust anyone out there.” Inside your fortress, no one lies and no one screams. Your kingdom is serene. You can rely on yourself; you can trust yourself. “You all lie and hurt.”

A look of annoyance flickers across his face. “It’s true that out in the world, people lie and hurt, but that’s life. You learn to forgive, hate, or move on.” You feel your body calm slightly, his voice flowing through your body like a tranquilizer. “Staying cooped up in here, you’ll never get hurt. You’ll eat and you’ll sleep, but that’s it.”

“And what’s wrong with that?”

“That’s not living. That’s stupidly surviving.”

“What can I do?” This fortress is your protection. With all defenses down and broken, how could ever feel secure again?

“You can break out of this cage you’ve locked yourself up in. You can come with me and start living instead of surviving. Or you can rot in this hole the rest of your life, alone and isolated.”

You open your mouth to defend your way of life.

The thief speaks before you can get a word in. “You’ll get hurt, but there’s more out there than just lies and pain.” He gives you one final speculating look before turning around and exiting your private tower.

Once he’s out of sight, a new alarm makes its way in your confined prison. Alone. Isolated. Forever in fear. This isn’t the life you wanted to build for yourself.

It doesn’t take you long to catch up to the thief outside of the castle walls. Like a true thief, he has stolen something you’ve kept close to you for so long. He’s stolen the lonesome burden you placed on yourself all those years ago, keeping it in the jacket pocket closest to his heart.

Ready to resume your life, you light your castle up in flames as you walk away from the that suppressed your existence from the rest of the world.