Unearthly Asylum by P. J. Bracegirdle

Author:P. J. Bracegirdle
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Margaret K. Mcelderry Books
Published: 2010-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Had anyone in the Wells family expected a big change in Joy’s miserable demeanor after a single therapy session, they were sorely disappointed as soon as she stepped through the front door. Ignoring the cheerful greetings of both brother and father, she headed upstairs. Closing her bedroom door as a decoy, she then snuck up to the attic, quickly raising the stairs behind her.

The pleasure of solitude proved fleeting, however. Sitting on a dusty rug, Joy shuddered to recall Dr. Daisy’s penetrating questions. Clearly the woman had not believed a single one of her lies, Joy realized. And what had she been writing so furiously on that little pad of hers?

The patient appears incapable of responding with anything but appalling fantasies. Still, I find something compelling in the testimony—a delusion so powerful that it seems forgivable to believe that somewhere within such demented ramblings lies a hidden truth, scuttling toward the light of legitimacy.

So Dr. Ingram had observed while interviewing a troubled patient in a dank asylum cell. But until now, she had never given any thought to how the poor wretch himself had felt, being probed by the imperious doctor and having his mind-bending recollections dispassionately recorded. And as a Spooky bobbing around in a sea of Darlings, being treated like a raving freak was as much a part of Joy’s daily routine as anyone’s. And now even her own family thought she was nuts.

And what if they were right? What if she had lost her mind? Joy recalled the past couple of years, poking around Spooking’s gloomy corners, looking for whatever monsters she’d been certain had somehow leaped off the pages of an old book. Well, none of it was true, she now knew. There were no secret histories, no slumbering truths. It was all just a fantasy she’d concocted to fill the empty hours of her life.

Drawing her knees to her chest, Joy felt ready to cry. But a few minutes passed, and nothing came. No sobs, so sniffles, no quivering lip. She touched the corners of her eyes and found them dry. In the center of her chest where such sadness had welled moments ago, she now felt nothing but a yawning emptiness.

It was from this abyss that an unexpected emotion began rising, a giddiness floating up through her body as though tethered to a bunch of little balloons. Thinking back to her therapist appointment, she had to laugh at the hilarious responses she had given. All at once she had the answer to her problems, a recipe for happiness now and into the future. It was time, she decided, time to embrace her inner madwoman.

Getting to her feet, Joy began gazing out the window to the east. From here, she could just make out the wall of the asylum casting a shadow on the distant Boulevard. Her future home, she thought, cackling to herself. Well at least it was within walking distance.

To Joy’s surprise, a vehicle suddenly pulled up to the gate. Low and black, it idled there, waiting to be admitted.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.