The Growths May 12, 2008 / Madness, Paranoia, and Mental Illness / anonymously authored / 2 minutes of reading Estimated reading time — 2 minutes I’d had them ever since I was a kid. I can remember being incredibly self-conscious about them, hiding them in my pockets under books and bags. The kids at school never said anything to my face, but I knew they were laughing behind my back. I remember asking my parents to take me to the doctor, to get them checked out. The growths on my hands seemed to be the elephant in the room back then, since they’d just say I was fine and change the subject. But I knew better. I had tried to remove them as a child, but without avail; trying to get them off was always a lost cause because I couldn’t continue once the pain kicked in. But today was different. It’s amazing how numb you can get with a couple of tourniquettes and a bottle of drink. I was originally planning to use sharps, but figured that trying to slice through the tough growths would be too arduous in my state. I opted for the slightly more technological plan B. I had to hurry though. I was already pretty light-headed and was starting to feel dizzy. My hands and forearms, nearly blue, couldn’t wait much longer either. The whirring of the blender helped to put me in a sort of trance–ready to do what I had wanted to do since I first looked down at my strange formations. I shoved my left hand in first. The immediate sensation of sharp blades slicing through was jarring, but I was surprised at how well the alcohol was working–I expected it to hurt more. I could hear the sharp metal churning and cutting, working perfectly as planned. I pressed my hand down harder. All those bad memories, all of the embarrassment–all of those horrible things were now nothing more... Breaking from the feelings of ecstasy, I pulled out before the blades hit knuckle. I smiled, taking a good look at my new hand. As for the growths–well, five down, and five to go!

OCT 11 The Girl in the Photograph One school day, a boy named Twm was sitting in class and doing maths. It was six more minutes until after school. As he was doing his homework, something caught his eyes. His desk was next to the window, and he turned and looked to the grass outside. It looked like a picture. When school was over, he ran to the spot where he saw it. He ran so fast that no one else could grab it. He picked it up and smiled. It had a picture of the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She had a dress with tights on and red shoes, and her hand was holding up two fingers, as if formed into a peace sign. She was so beautiful he wanted to meet her, so he ran all over the school and asked everyone if they knew her or have ever seen her before. But everyone he asked said “No.” He was devastated. When he was home, he asked his sister if she knew the girl, but unfortunately she also said “No.” It was very late, so Tom walked up the stairs, placed the picture on his bedside table and went to sleep. In the middle of the night Twm was awakened by a tap on his window. It was like a nail tapping. He got scared. After he heard a giggle. He saw a shadow near his window, so he got out of his bed, walked to his window, opened it up and followed the giggling. By the time he reached it, it was gone. The next day again he asked his neighbours if they knew her. Everybody said, “Sorry, no.” When his mother came home he even asked her if she knew. She said “No.” He went to his room, placed the picture on his desk and fell asleep. Once again he was awakened by a tapping. He took the picture and followed the girlish giggling. He walked across the road, when suddenly he got hit by car. He passed, with the picture in his hand. The driver got out of the car and tried to help him, but it was too late. Suddenly he saw the picture and picked it up. He saw a cute girl, holding up three fingers. made by arood / contributors: arood