Bedtime Story

Let me tell you a bedtime story...

I open my eyes and blearily look around the room.  It's barely light outside.  I can see the leaves through the crack between where the window shade ends and the sill begins.  They are turning different hues of orange and red.  I still see a few that are green.  It must be autumn.  The room looks the same as it does each day.  Oddly familiar but strange.  I struggle to sit up.  Everytime I move some part of me hurts.  It feels as though I have been beaten within an inch of my life.  I sigh.  There's no point...  my head feels fuzzy and I can't remember.  After a very long time I stand.  I feel unsteady and grip the bars along the bottom of the bed.   They too seem odd...  I don't recall them being there the last time I stood in this room.   I shuffle along to the door and try the handle.  As usual it's locked.  I walk very slowly back to the bed and stop to rest.  I feel exhausted...  drained...  I look across the polished wooden floor to the mirror hanging just above the dresser.  I stand and walk over to the dresser staring at the woman who looks back at me with hollow eyes and gaunt cheeks.  Part of me knows who she is and why she is here...  but another part of me is filled with rising panic as I stare into her vacant gaze.  Suddently the woman in the mirror sneers at me  spitting epithets and vile accusations.  I cover my ears and turn away in horror.  I cross quickly to the bed and slink under the covers hugging my pillow and rocking myself.  Soon I hear the sound of the door being unlocked and the woman comes into the room.  She reaches out to touch my head and I cringe but she strokes my hair gently.  I hear the sound of her footsteps back across the floor then the click of the lock. And soon I fall back to sleep. 

Who is this woman? 
Why is she locked in this room? 
Why is she so terrified?
What has happened to her? 

Recovery In Five Short Chapters

[Recovery in Five Short Chapters is adapted from the original by Anonymous]

Chapter One -
I walk down the street. Suddenly, without warning, I fall into a hole. It is huge, dark, and frightening. I am scared. I fumble around in the dark trying to find my way out. I feel nothing out there. I can see nothing. I am lost. Terror overcomes me in the darkness. I want to curl up in a ball and hide. Somehow I begin to try to find my way out. It seems to take forever, but eventually I begin to feel the edge of the hole and I can follow the walls in the dark. After what seems like an eternity I can see the light in the distance. I follow it and climb out. I am exhausted, shaken to my core. I continue on my journey.

Chapter Two -
It is the next day. I walk down the same street. I know the hole is out there... somewhere. I am frightened. I fall in again. It is huge, dark and scary. I feel lost. I know there is a way out, but I cannot find it. I begin to feel terror in the darkness. Somewhere in my mind I remember there is a way out. It takes a long time, but eventually I reach the edge of the hole and feel my way along the walls in the darkness. After a very long time I begin to see the light and I climb out. Again I am exhausted. I continue on my journey.

Chapter Three -
It is the next day. I walk down the same street. I see the hole. It is up ahead. I know it is there and that I will fall into it. I feel uneasy. It is familiar in a scary way. I really don't want to fall in, but I can't help myself. It is still dark and very big. I recall that there is a way out and begin to reach for the walls at the edge of the hole. I find them more quickly than before. Soon I see the light and am able to climb out. I feel spent, but understand what has happened. I continue on my journey.

Chapter Four -
It is the next day. I walk down the same street. I see the hole. It is up ahead and it is huge. It stretches across almost the whole street. I see a path around the edge that has been walked by many others before me. It is narrow and there are places where I might fall into the hole but I decide to try. I walk around the hole!! I am exhilarated!! I continue on my journey.

Chapter Five -
It is the next day. I walk down a different street!!

The journey of recovery begins with the recognition that we are falling into the same hole over and over again. We can choose to walk down a different street. Make the choice. The path is clearly marked. Let your Higher Power guide you along placing one foot in front of another in faith.