Firefly

They sit, and they watch her. Watch their cellmate, a husk of skin and bones that once resembled a human form, but now ravaged by hunger and weakness, skeletal and devoid of life except for the beating of her heart and the blink of her eyes. Day in and day out they watch her. From when they wake to when they turn back to their bunks for sleep, they keep their eyes on her. They watch her closely for any changes, the tiniest difference. Only to see the blank stare she gives to the white, dirt speckled walls. She never speaks a word, never makes a sound. It’s unnerving. Even in her silence, even in the sluggish way she moves, something dark and wild lurks behind her eyes. They can sense it. And so they watch her, knowing that she could crack at any moment, she could go crazy. So they keep their distance, staying forever watchful.

Drei

Nervousness fills the air of the dank, empty cells. They can tell that she is becoming more restless with each passing day. She acts as if she is a caged animal, pacing back and forth in her “cage”, glancing about her as though she were planning something. She clicks her tongue and sits on her bunk, thinking and staring off into nothingness. She is planning something, something devious. They notice her movements becoming much sharper. She mouths words and whispers indistinctly to herself. Her eyes hold a crazed look, the look of one who’s been imprisoned far too long. She’s starting to lose her grip with reality, and they fear that soon she will fall off the brink and into insanity. So they wait. They wait and keep their distance.

Zwei

Nerves have given way to fear now. She never stops speaking to herself. Her eyes flick around the cell. She is shifty and fidgety. Anxious. She never makes eye contact and draws abstract images with a rock on the cold, cement ground. No one knows what lurks inside her mind, and it scares them. Her behavior is escalating. They know it, its tangible in the air. She says things under her breath, curses and abstract thoughts, the mutterings of a deranged lunatic. They know the time will soon come when she will no longer have a sane thought in her head. Soon she will go off the deep end, never to come back. So they keep their vigilant eyes on her, observing her every move, ready for the inevitable.

Eins

The guards have noticed her now. She is separated from them all. Isolated in her own corner, alone, mumbling nonsense to herself. Now it is she who watches the others. She studies them and catalogs them with her eyes, recording their actions in her mind. They grow ever fearful of her, unsure if what she will do next. Sounds are heard from her cell at night. Scraping and grinding noises drift down the halls, chilling them all to their bones. Sometimes her screams echo into the night and not even they can close their ears to the screeching. In daylight they keep their distance, afraid to anger her, afraid to set her off. They sense she is closer to it everyday, closer to the edge. And every day she is acting out even more. It is only a matter of time now.

Zünden an

One day it all goes quiet. The screams have stopped and the air holds a certain calmness in its silence. And they know. They know it has finally happened. She cracked, she lost her grip with reality, she went crazy. They watch through their cell bars as the guards discard of her few belongings. The mattress on her bunk, the extras set of clothes, small sheets of paper. As the guards move past each cell a symbol is seen painted in black on each item. A firefly surrounded by flames, forever burning in Hell.

Das Ende.

A/N: Sooo... What'd you think? Comments? Anyone?