A/N: A short story I did for my creative writing class last September. The two topics I wrote this one for are "Behind the Mask" and "Speaking Out". This is a rather metaphorical piece.

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She no longer knew how long she had been in the great, dark hall of the castle, her sighs the only sounds in the heavy silence. Maybe it was weeks, maybe months, maybe years… but it was enough to have melted all her memories of light, freedom and wide, open country. All she could see was the darkness enveloping her like a thick shroud, all she could feel were the cold stones beneath her feet and the heavy chains pinning her down, all she could hear was the steady thumping of her heartbeat.

In all this time in the castle she had forgotten everything: the smell of wind, the feel of grass, the colour of the sky, the taste of food… she had forgotten everything that could still remind her of the outside world - even her own name. She no longer even knew the reason for her imprisonment, except that she had kept a secret hidden for too long, a secret that should long have been revealed. Now, she could no longer reveal it - she had forgotten it too.

Her breathing echoed in the dark, quiet hall. Her chains clanked loudly as she tried to move. Not a single flicker of light pierced the heavy blackness pressing down on her like a thick, stifling blanket.

She might have told her secret long ago; pulling away her mask and revealing her true self at last. But she had been too stubborn, insisting on keeping her treasure buried. Now she was sorry, but it was too late. After ages of remaining silent, after what seemed like an eternity, even if she had wanted to speak, she could no longer force her tongue to move. All her words were drowned in her attempts, until she gave up altogether. Day after day, her tongue became heavier and her chains weighed her down more, making escape more impossible with every passing minute.

She knew that it was her just punishment, that it was her own fault that she was sitting in a dark hall, hidden from everyone. At first she had not admitted it to herself, but after a long time all alone in darkness and silence, she could not help but listen to her own thoughts and the voice of her heart which she had so long ignored. But when at last she had noticed her mistake, time had run out and it was too late to turn around. She had buried herself too deep underground; her secret would never come free now…

---x---

"Who's that girl? Is she new too?"

"Oh, her? No, she's been here like… four years or so."

"She looks so lonely."

"Yeah… but it's her own fault really, you know. She's weird. She moves from group to group, trying to fit in all the time. You never know what she's really thinking. I wouldn't try and befriend her, Emily."

The ringing of a bell. Lunch break.

"Is anyone sitting here?"

No answer. The scrape of a chair against the floor.

”Oh, thanks."

No answer.

"I'm new here. I quite like your school. My name's Emily. What's yours?"

No answer. Maybe there will never be an answer.

---x---

Suddenly, the silence was shattered by a loud, rumbling noise. The ground began to tremble beneath her, the walls around her threatening to fall and bury her under rubble, forgotten forever. Filled with fear, she tried to escape, but the chains clung to her like heavy, rusty fingers, scratching at her arms and legs. She could do nothing but stay where she was, closing her eyes and waiting for death…

Nothing happened - the earthquake stopped as soon as it had begun, leaving behind only the old silence and the heavy, musty air. Her heart was still beating rapidly with the shock. Slowly, she started to calm down. But just as she was going to lapse back into dark and lonely thoughts, something happened.

---x---

The loud ring of the lunch bell. The chatter of students waiting for their lunch.

"Oh, hi! Can I sit with you again?"

No answer. The scrape of a chair against the floor.

Silence. Only the sound of others talking in the background. Only the clinging and clanging of cutlery.

"You can talk to me, you know." A friendly voice. "I just want to be your friend."

---x---

A stone dislodged itself from the high ceiling, a very small stone, no larger than a pebble; so small, and yet it made all the difference. A strange sensation went through her as something unknown and foreign entered the hall. She recoiled in fright as something bright and new flashed into her eyes, blinding her for a few seconds. What was it? This was worse than the earthquake. She had experienced many earthquakes already, but this… she no longer knew it.

For a few seconds, or minutes, or hours - she did not know exactly how long - she sat there, her hands held protectively before her eyes, trying to move away to the dark she was used to and get away from that alien power piercing the hole in the ceiling. She had seen it before, and had felt the strange sensation it brought with it, but she could no longer remember.

And then she knew.

Blinking, she looked up, seeing the first tiny ray of sunlight she had seen in a long, long time. The darkness surrounding her fled like a defeated army from the streak of brightness, creeping away into shadows and cracks. Forgetting her chains, she stood. Just as she remembered the name of that beautiful and powerful ray and just as she forgot the chains binding her, she noticed that her shackles were no longer holding her. They had disappeared just as she stopped thinking about them.

Light, that was its name, and the strange feeling was warmth… A desire filled her heart, a strong desire to go towards that pale light so high above. Sounds came to her ears, sounds that she had long forgotten. They frightened her at first, but soon she realised what they were. They were the calls of freedom, the calls of the world outside. If only she could reach that hole in the ceiling… if only she could reach that hole and finally escape from this never-ending torture… but the ceiling was too high.

But why should she care? She had been behind those thick walls for too long. Whatever it took, if she could spend half an eternity hidden in darkness, she was sure she could also spend another half eternity searching for a way back to the light. Whatever it took, she would do it.

The smooth walls were riddled suddenly with cracks, the ceiling suddenly felt closer. The sunlight had brought her hope, taking away the illusions that had held her caught for so long. Now she could see things that she had never noticed, and she could find a way to escape.

---x---

The ringing of the lunch bell. The scrape of the chair against the floor.

"Hey!"

"Hey Emily." An answer. A mumbled answer, but an answer.

"What did you have just now?"

"Science." A mumbled answer, but an answer. A voice out of the heavy silence.

---x---

Her fingers found holds in the wall. Slowly she pulled herself upwards, a little bit at a time. Every time she looked up, the light looked slightly closer, yet still very far away. She held on tightly to that ray of light, that one ray of hope in her darkness, slowly loosening the cords she had bound around herself through her silence. With every step, her memories escaped from their chains, memories of a previous life long forgotten.

The wall was high and the stone slippery; the footholds becoming less the higher she climbed. But still she held on, climbing towards freedom, towards her true self, the personality she had not wanted to admit. Time no longer had a meaning for her; the darkness and chains were far behind. All she needed to know was the light she was stretching out her hands to.

Yet the darkness below her was not yet defeated. It swarmed up against her, reminding her that it was still there, telling her that she would not reach the way out anyway, and draining her of every drop of hope. She would never get out… she would never get out… Suddenly, she felt a chain pulling at her one leg, trying to drag her down. One part of her wished to let go, drop back down and stay in the eternal darkness. Another part wanted to get out and escape her dark tomb forever. She hung there, suspended between darkness and light, clutching the crack in the wall with her numb fingers. Which side would win? Would she escape, or be imprisoned forever?

Something moved inside her. Why should she give in to the darkness that had tortured her for so long? Why should she give up and give in to her chains? Before her was a way to freedom - and she would reach it, no matter how distant it seemed, no matter how impossible it appeared. She would reach it, even if it meant to go on forever.

And then, suddenly, the walls around her crumbled away and melted into darkness. She held out her fingers to the light, feeling wind on them. All around her, birds burst into song to welcome the dawn. Like her, the world was awaking. Like her, the world was opening itself to a new day.

---x---

"Hi!"

"Hey Emily!" No longer a mumbled answer. "How was Maths?"

"Um… fine." Talking. No longer silent, no longer mumbling. Talking. For the first time, telling the truth.

---x---

She was standing on a hill, with cool, green grass beneath her feet and the wind whistling around her ears. Slowly, hesitantly at first, she stretched out her arms; closing her eyes and turning her face to the sun like a sunflower in the field.

There, in the early morning light, she shouted out her secret, speaking out those words that she had kept hidden so long, speaking out the truth that she had kept hidden from everyone, finally tearing off the mask and showing who she really was. At last the truth came to the surface, bubbling up like a spring. And she wanted to sing forever, for now she had told her secret, now she had removed her mask, and now she was free, free from herself, free in the world. She was free at last.