[ a tragic novel, complete at 44k words, wattpad featured ]
Gladys never killed anyone. She wasn't the wolf that had mercilessly dug her claws into her own mother and cousin. She wasn't a killer. All bleach bones and opaque humanity were the real Gl...
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GOLD DAPPLED SUNSHINE cleansed her face with purity, only that the purity wasn't inside her anymore. Like it used to be, like a glowing witch's globe. The light had been put out long ago. She was no longer pure. In all honesty, darkness was all that spread its wings over her.
She'd gotten the square window by luck. Everyone wanted that cell, to at least have the signs of nature wrapping them up in their lifetimes in a prison. She'd gotten that cell, where the early lights of the moon and sun got drenched deep inside the cracked walls, holes filled with dry cement.
She faced the east, a ray of light falling perpendicular at the cemented floor. The morning sun lighted up her features. Rasberry tender lips parted open like she was waiting for the sun to lick her dry lips. She smiled as the wind flitted for a hello. Ebony locks licked her cheeks and eyes, flapping in the light breeze like a kite without an owner. The wind brought the scent of sweet magnolia with it, making her dizzy as she held her eyes shut closed. Behind the wall, she could hear the chattering of the birds. The swallows coming for tender leaves or the caterpillars struggling out of their cocoons. All sounds met her ears, and she listened keenly. Crows made sad noises, flapping their charcoal wings at their sides and dark, ember eyes searching for prey.
Gladys's eyes snapped open as footfalls of heavy combat boots approached outside her cell. Heavy feet thudding against the cheap cement. She straightened her posture, head still tilted towards the little window, and she'd vowed she would never open her mouth in those 20 years of prison life and maybe then she'd finally learn to speak before her death.
"Gladys" Her vow broke the moment she snapped her head at the voice. She stood up on shaky legs in her baggy grey jumper and trousers. She'd been given twice her actual size, so she had to often hitch the waistband up in the last twelve hours, elastic stretching up to her chest. Her sun-kissed ebony locks fluttered in the light breeze. She tucked them behind her ears and walked towards the iron bars, approaching the intruder with a curious smile.
"Kyle....... why are you here?" She asked with uncertainty tinting her voice, even though she didn't want to sound uncertain.
Kyle had his soft brown hair matted with perspiration as he wiped his forehead with a handkerchief, pushing his hair back. He seemed shameful, almost. Gladys thought, or maybe it was just a quick observation. After all, no person would like to be seen in prison as a visitor. It'd create a hole in their reputation, in Cathays at least. He looked prepared in his corduroy slacks and matching blazer. But prepared for what? Gladys thought for the shortest of seconds before Kyle spoke.
"We won't be seeing each other for... what... like many years,"
"You have come to bid farewell," Gladys said, tongue rolling backwards. She couldn't stand here, behind the iron barrier, having to see her best friend walk away while she got to rot there, in that cell, for years. She hated she couldn't speak. She hated to carry a burden for someone else's crime. She bit her tongue hard. She didn't want to bring Jane Lewis into their first-time conversation. It looked forever since she'd spoken to Kyle, the other one where she attempted yet another homicide by strangling him. It didn't matter now, he was alive.
