Voices

Freak, Slowpoke, Fatty, Nerd, Gross, Stupid, Bespectacled Idiot…

Layla ran like there was no tomorrow, and perhaps there wasn't. When you were running for your life you did not remain optimistic enough, thinking that you would be lucky enough to see the sunrise the next day. Her feet slapping the tarmac and the soft pant of her breath was the only sound she registered. The familiar small-town surroundings flew past her or to be more accurate, it was her who was zooming past.

She practically hurled herself at an elderly gentleman who cut across her path. Under normal circumstances, she would have stopped and apologized but niceties had no place in the middle of a life-threatening chase and so she glared at him, speeding away.

Freak, Slowpoke, Fatty, Nerd, Gross, Stupid, Bespectacled Idiot…

If Layla were being honest, she did not know why she was sprinting in such a crazed manner. She had just left the running track at school and was on her way home when she heard the voices and sharp survival instincts kicked in. The whispers had been following her for quite some time now but when she glanced behind her shoulder no one appeared. It felt like they were a breath away from her and yet just out of sight. A terror as ancient as time itself gripped her and at that moment she understood what fearing for one’s life meant. So, she did what she did best. She ran.

Layla had always been a runner. She was the star track athlete at her school, the fastest kid in her district and so, running didn’t bother her. The fact that she was running away from those people and their voices and not towards the finish line was what bothered her.

Freak, Slowpoke, Fatty, Nerd, Gross, Stupid, Bespectacled Idiot…

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she did not notice the unevenness of the road she was treading on and promptly tumbled down, scrapping herself on the gravel and knocking away her glasses. That’s when the voices grew louder and she looked up with a blurred vision at someone dashing towards her, yelling incoherently.

Uh oh, she thought, panicking as she jammed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and gathered herself upright. Ignoring the sting of the scratches and the slow but steady trickle of blood down her palms, she again took off determined to getaway.

Nobody could catch up with her; running was her thing, her biggest pride, and joy. Nobody would take that away from her only because of their taunting, jeering voices. She continued to criss-cross through the streets which she knew like the back of her hand. How many times had she outpaced other kids her age in races held through these very roads?

Layla sped past the grocery store at the periphery of the town and ducked around the corner. She was confident that she had put some space between herself and her pursuers; maybe they had even stopped chasing her. She leaned against the bricked wall, trying to catch her breath, giddy that she had outrun yet another person when the voices resurfaced. A shadow rounded the corner and Layla didn’t wait long enough to find out who it belonged to.  

Freak, Slowpoke, Fatty, Nerd, Gross, Stupid, Bespectacled Idiot…  

She leaped across the narrow creek at the edge of the town and then made a beeline for the relative safety of the woods. The ring of outer trees appeared before her and glancing behind her, she quickly ducked under their dense canopies. She knew the woods like the back of her hand. After all, she called it a second home, the forest would protect her. It always did; but today strange things were happening, first the disembodied voices, then someone almost catching up with her and the deathly fright which continued to paralyze her heart.

Layla quickly made her way towards a clearing she was familiar with. No one would find her here, she thought, as she finally slowed down. Stepping into the clearing, she approached the crystal clear lake which sat calmly at the center and let out a relieved sigh. Bending down and putting away her glasses, she splashed the cool water on her sweat streaked face and wiped away the blood still coating her palm. The soothing water was a balm for her body and mind. The adrenaline which had pushed her to her limits earlier was fading, leaving behind a dull feeling and her ungodly gasps and pants finally slowed down to deep, human-like breaths. Just then she heard it again, those voices.

Freak, Slowpoke, Fatty, Nerd, Gross, Stupid, Bespectacled Idiot…

Opening her eyes she looked down at the water and saw multiple faces peering up at her; she knew it was over. Her pursuers had finally caught up with her. Blinking, she reached for her glasses and put them on and risked another glance at the water to size up who she was dealing with. The multiple faces which had earlier looked up at her from the rippling water surface now faded in and out. The line between the pursuers and the pursued thinned, then blurred and ultimately altogether vanished. The multiple images merged into one until her face looked up at her.

She swerved around with a gasp and frantically took in her surroundings, her gaze sharp, scanning, and searching. She checked twice and then thrice, but there was no mistaking it. Her breaths and footsteps were the only sounds echoing between the rustling trees, she was the only one in the clearing.

That… that would mean those voices… They were her own?

Layla fell to her knees and put her hands to head and suddenly she knew who those voices belonged to. They were the insults she had faced for years which she had taken to heart. The mocking words stuck in her head, the calls of her insecurities, the taunts and jeers of her inner demons. 

FREAK, SLOWPOKE, FATTY, NERD, GROSS, STUPID, BESPECTACLED IDIOT…

As if they knew they were the ones she was thinking about, they rose from whispers at the back of her mind to shrieks and shouts. Their cacophony filled her head and her ears rang with non-existent voices. Her eyes blurred with tears and screwing them shut, she threw her head back and let out a single piercing scream. There were some things no one could outrun.