I heard the latch to my cell open up. The lady walked inside with a glass of water in one hand and a small tray in her other hand.

“It’s time for your pills,” she announced as she approached me.

I hated taking my pills. The pills weren’t even helping; they only made you crazier. That was their motive anyway to keep you here and never let you escape. They were the insane ones.

She handed me the glass of water and placed one of the pills in the palm of my hand. It was green and looked like a tube. I put it in my mouth and drank a few sips of water. I gulped and she handed me another pill. This one was red. I did the same thing as I did with the other one. She handed me one last pill. This one was white and circular. Once again, I repeated the same process. I handed the cup back to the lady. She walked out of my room, shut the cell door and locked it. I spit out the pills into the palm of my hand as soon as her footsteps became faint.

I never took the pills. When I was first brought here I had and I vowed to myself that I would never take them again. They made me go insane. I would become hysterical and hallucinate to a point where I did not know what was real. I always made it seem like I swallowed the pills but in reality they were just under my tongue.

I lied on the metal bed and shut my eyes. I thought about the first time I told my parents about Pandora. I remember it like it was yesterday.

~

Flashback

“Nana, did you have fun playing with your dolls?” my mother asked.

We were eating dinner, my mother, father and I. I sat across from my mother as my father sat at the head of the table.

“Yes, but, I have to tell you of something that I saw,” I said.

“What did you see?” my father asked.

“I heard a loud crashing sound while I was playing with my dolls. So, I went to investigate with Jade. I looked behind the shed and there was this strange blue static-y circle. I lost balance and fell inside. I landed in this world called Pandora. There were long strands of grass as tall as trees! And I met a magician named Jupal. She lived in a house of cards with slides! It was so cool,” I said excitedly as I finished telling my story.

My father stared at me. He placed his fork on the table.

“Sweetie, it sounds like you had an adventure! But, that was just play. Surely you don’t believe it all to be real,” he said.

“Of course it was real! I saw it with my own two eyes!” I pointed at my eyes for emphasis.

My mother laughed nervously.

“You are a child. Children make up their own little worlds. It was a figment of your imagination,” my mother explained.

“No it wasn’t!” I pouted and crossed my arms over my chest.

“Well then I have an idea, why don’t you show us ‘Pandora’,” my father suggested.

“Okay! Jupal gave me this necklace that will take me to Pandora each time I shake it.” I showed them my necklace.

I stood up from my seat and shook the necklace except no portal showed up. Huh? I thought this was supposed to take me to Pandora. I looked at the necklace with confusion. I continued to shake it, but was stopped by my father.

“See Nana, like your mother said, it was a figment of your imagination. Nothing more than that,” my father said gently.

“No,” I yelled, “it’s supposed to work!”

I ran off to my room, tears blurring my vision as they strolled down my cheeks. I slammed my bedroom door shut and jumped on my bed. I buried my face in my pillow and cried. Why didn’t it work? Why don’t my parents believe me?