The air is stifling, I am suffocating I’m sure of it. I squirm and move and shake trying to break
free, my hair is in my face and I cannot get my hands free to move it. I lie stiff and immoveable. I can feel my heart beat racing in my chest and through my veins and the temperature inside me boils out of control. The darkness blinds me and I cannot see. I cannot feel. I cannot hear. I am trapped in this closed off space. I feel that death must be near and I could give into the easy fight. I could close my eyes and rest my head and give into the stifling air that surrounds me. I have always feared coffins and boxes and small spaces. I need the wide open fresh air of freedom, I need my eyes to be open and to see for miles around, I need my joints and limbs to move with without restraint or stiffness. I need to break free. I let out a blaring roar, I am alive, I will not be harnessed or trapped. I flail my arms and legs wide and I quickly overturn my entrapment. I fling the blanket off of my head and roll away from my captor, my little brother who jumped me and had me rolled up in a bed cover-one of his favorite games. “Get OFF!” I shout and he chuckles.