Condemned to dangle forever; tethered by unrelenting bands of which I cannot break despite countless agonizing efforts. She keeps me here, in this dark place to pull and prod as she pleases. My body is exhausted, my mind completely drained, my spirit utterly destroyed. In the quiet moments she stares eerily at me, her fearsome eyes are wide and fiercely penetrating. She leans in close and flashes a spine-chilling smile, still menacingly watching me.

Suddenly her demeanor shifts and she seems to look at me sympathetically. She reaches for a lock of my hair, and lifts my chin. I begin to feel at ease and take comfort in the master’s gentility. She whispers softly to me “don’t cry child, you’re safe here with me." I rest my weary head in the palm of her hand and begin to drift. I bask in a unsettled state of certainty to ease the strain, and it is blissfully magnificent. For that moment in time, I am free.

In an endless battle of mind control, the master continuously tells twisted tales with such persuasive conviction that even the most acute individual could easily be fooled. She carefully calculates responses with reactions, always one step ahead, sustaining a manifold of pseudo personalities- each exclusive to a different person. She wears a multitude of masks, heedfully playing the corresponding role with brilliant authenticity. Toward me, she portrays a holy woman of bountiful sacrifice, with arms reaching out to the world. In this persona, I am vulnerable to her, and instinctively feel a longing for solace.

Once I am entirely deluded by her powerfully cunning psychosis, master furiously hurls my strings into the air and then savagely sends me crashing back down. I hit with incredible force, driving the air straight from my lungs. I lie still for a while, peacefully replaying fragments of time over in my head, and settling into the welcoming feel of readiness. "Please god, .... please let me go." The comforting warmth turns cold and the brilliant shine begins fading steadily to gray as the roaring sound of laughter fills my head. Master has played me again....... it's her favorite game.