You’ve just arrived in a swampy, dim town. As you look around, your gaze is met with shacks and cabins. It smells of rotted wood and wet moss. You duck and step into a tattered tent, illuminated by a series of candles suspended in the air. At the back of the tent, an old hag raises her head, “What brings you to this dingy town? she begins, then pauses to study your face—”Ah, it’s you. I’ve been expecting you. Sit,” she gestures at a cushion, “Tell me your story.” ((How do you respond?)) Example: I stare back at her with a neutral face. In an almost whispering tone I reply "You where expecting me?" I turn my head to take one last look outside before sitting down..."Grandmother, how do you know me? I'm sorry but I don't recall meeting you before...But since I am here I will tell you my story... My parents named me after a dear friend of theirs. I lived by the sea with my mother and father were we would fish and make decorations out of sea shells. I barely went out in public and would almost see no one other than my parents all day. It was a quiet life. We did everything as a family, to washing cloths to cooking. One day when I arrived back from a swim, they were gone. The house was dark, everything felt still. No matter how much I called out to my parents, there was never a response. I sat at the table until dawn of the next day. They never came back. I stayed two years in my home all alone, waiting for them to come back. The silence and emptiness if my home was suffocating. I could no longer stay there, so I took the necessities and locked up the house before leaving. It will always be my house, but ever since my parents left it stopped being My Home." I stared down at my hands, tears forming but my face still neutral. "Sorry Grandmother" I brush the tears away "I think you are the first person I talked to since I left that house. Hearing my voice...all of this out loud just made me realize that I'm free now...but still alone...Thank you for listening Grandmother"
