Silently Screaming
This is for the Vocal "Painted Prose" Challenge

The Prompt
Write a story inspired by a work of art. Make the artwork your featured image and give credit to the artist in the caption.
You can read about the challenge fully here.
Silently Screaming
This is my life now.
I cannot say anything.
I am locked in this white room, the lights always on.
I cannot sleep, there is always sound.
I am going mad.
There are marks of hurt on me, but they are clever, nothing shows.
People come to see me, look through the safety glass window and are told that I am dangerous, and cannot be approached. They are told that I am being treated well but will never be cured, and therefore never let out.
Those that cared for me come to see me less and less.
I cannot hear them and I cannot tell them what is happening to me.
They look at me with pity when they come and see me.
I am screaming inside when that happens, but they cannot see my anguish and pain, although I believe the authorities have convinced them that the official line is true.
Then it is back to my treatment.
Under my gown, my body is striped, bruised, and marked, from the interrogation techniques.
I know nothing.
They know I know nothing.
This gives them an excuse to be even more brutal because I do not tell them what they want to know. I have nothing to tell them.
I tried making things up but they know that they are lies.
I put my hands to my head, but can only scream silently because if I make any noise they will say that is proof that I am dangerous and cannot be controlled.
I hope for friends or family to come and see me, and hope they can convince the authority that I should be freed, but I know that the authority convinces them that I cannot be freed under any circumstance.
In the beginning, I trusted and believed the authority, believed that they had my best interests at heart. I think that my friends and family still do.
But every day I feel further from any chance of salvation, I am not allowed to say a word. If I try, I am punished.
I do not know why this is happening, but my inside my head is a continual scream and I cannot stop it. My very soul is being destroyed here and I believe that I may not be long for this place.
I have no hope at all.
I screamed last week when it got too much and then was punished with severe shocks. The scream in my head is not as physically painful, but it is mental anguish to the point of destruction.
I cannot take any more, but I have no way out.
Their questions no longer even make sense.
I no longer make sense.
This no longer makes sense.
Why?
Why?
Tell Me Why?
Let Me Go
Please.
The sound goes on forever.
I cannot sleep.
This is torture, and I scream silently forever.
The Watchers
This is a good one, the anguish he generates feeds us so well. I believe that he will go on for years. His silence is amazing, they usually expire after a few days, but this one is really something else.
When the Fallen One sent us up here to try this out I did not think that we would get anything as good as this. Tormenting souls in front of their loved ones generates so much energy for us, and I think our master is very pleased with our results.
Hell, we might even get rewarded, because we have shown that there is a whole world for us to harvest
About the Creator
Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred
A Weaver of Tales and Poetry
Join & Share In VSS
Creationati
Call Me Les ♥ Gina ♥ Heather ♥ Caroline ♥
Reader insights
Outstanding
Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!
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Compelling and original writing
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Heartfelt and relatable
The story invoked strong personal emotions
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Zero grammar & spelling mistakes
On-point and relevant
Writing reflected the title & theme
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Comments (13)
An intriguing reflection of the scream. I’ve only read JG Ballard’s novella Running Wild. Will have to read more of his Mike. I loved the dystopian feel of your piece here. Funny enough, early in the your story I thought I was reading a free verse poem much like Dharrsheena below. 🤣 I really need to learn the read the communities! Best.
I saw your title and subtitle but not the community. I have no idea why but I was so confident this challenge is a poetry challenge. As I started reading, I was like, oh wow, Mike's poem is free verse. I don't think I've seen you write a free verse. Then I was like, oh this poem is very long like the Raven poem you wrote. Only toward nearing the ending I scrolled all the way up and realised it was Fiction, lol! Your story was both so scary and sad! I loved it!
I don't know how I'd missed this one before Heather mentioned it. Absolutely brilliant!
Ooohh so dark and yet it gave me the feeling of not being able to look away!!
This was so disturbing all the way through and the twist at the end made it all the more difficult to accept. Wow, this was a great piece. Fantastic work, Mike :)
I'm scared haha. I'm really wondering about this Fallen One who is sending The Watchers. A very strong entry this one!
It was very scary!
Demoniacal, paranoid schizophrenia inducing!
This is a winner - no doubt - this was one of the greatest works you've done so far. Outstanding job, and unbelievably good.
This is a great choice in artwork and you gave an excellent review of the torment that echoes out forever from a painting like this.
"And the anguish dance of the tortured soul pirouettes into its demise." This is so Macabre and such a high level of writing style. BRAVO!!! ;)
Wow- I enjoy your work as a rule- but this is elevated! Not only the beginning part of the screamer but the twist at the end. Reminds me of Lewis’ Screwtape Letters.
Hi Mike I have been watching the notifications come through of your latest published work. I didn’t know about the challenge so thank you for the link! This felt so real. I was there. Within the torture of the silent scream. Best of luck in the Challenge! Pauline 🌸 And Mike I’d really like your feedback if possible on my ‘Micro Heist’ Challenge entry https://shopping-feedback.today/fiction/ever-so-slowly%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class="css-w4qknv-Replies">