isolation {friends}

[prudence]

Prudence had not been faring well since being attacked that fateful day in July, in fact she had cut herself off from nearly everything. A small pile of letters sat on the floor unopened, her normally organized room had turned into a cluttered mess, and she was physically beginning to mirror what she felt on the inside. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying, dark circles were etched heavily beneath them from the sleepless nights she had been encountering. That day, however, Prudence had somehow unearthed the motivation to shower and get dressed in something other than pajamas, but had returned to her bed, curled up on her side, gaze fixed loosely on the wall, though she wasn't really looking at it.

Prudence had, for the past few days, felt almost physically ill. She assumed that it was her own doing- crying and isolating herself to illness. A minor headache with terrible nausea hung over her all day, and an achy feeling seemed to encompass her entire body from the moment she woke up until the moment she went to bed. In short, Prudence had never felt more miserable in her entire life. But the physical ailments were nothing compared to the nearly crippling depression and anxiety, Prudence barely left her room anymore, and anything outside the house was completely out of the question.

Though she was incapable of admitting it to herself, Prudence was craving company, if only someone to sit next to her, perhaps lend an ear to listen. She had yet to fully retell what had happened, only given the gist before her voice would fail her, though Prudence felt that it was now eating at her. She bit her lip when she heard the sound of two sets of footsteps from the hall, and then her father's voice say gently, "just through there." Someone knocked on her door, almost tentatively. Suddenly she found herself not wanting anyone to see her the way she was, it was pathetic. "It's open," Prudence sighed quietly, not finding the strength to sit up and identify her visitor, but laid still, her gaze still on the wall opposite her door- so her back was turned to whoever was there.