The Insanity of the Insane Asylum is a thrilling and captivating story written by Medha. She is just 12, but the sensitivity with which she has weaved this tale will surprise you.

The photo frame

As I woke up, my head was spinning. The ECG machine was making beep sounds. I was lying on a bed and there was a photo frame on the side stool. It had a photo of a family. My head was hurting. Someone knocked at the door and it was pushed opened. A sweet girl was smiling brightly at me. She came to me and asked me to sit. She handed me a glass of water and some pills. I was puzzled and asked what the pills were for. She said, “You have not fully recovered as yet”. And her phone rang, and she walked out of the door.

I was feeling very weak and tired hence I slept. When I woke up, the same girl was sitting by my side. I wanted to ask her this the last time as well and now I finally did, “Do you know whose family is this in photo frame near my bed? She got a little sad and said, “I hope you remember everything that happened to you.” I replied, “No. I just remember my name. I think it’s Natalia Ryder.” She replied “Yes, it is. But don’t you remember anything about this photo frame?”. I replied scarily “Umm…no”. She started crying and ran outside the room, smashing the door. Her behavior freaked me out. Gathering all my strength, I got off the bed, wore my slippers and walked out of the door.

THE HALLWAY

As I was walking in the hallway, I felt as if someone was following me but here was no one there. I walked quickly wanting to find that girl. There was a shabby door in the hallway. I went inside. It looked like an old library. There were millions of books there. On a table near the bookshelf number five, there was a note. The note stated, “I am happy that you are okay. You must be surprised when you woke up. I will meet you soon. Love, Lilia.” I wondered who was Lilia. Leaving that note there, walked out of that library.

In the hallway, there was a sound of someone crying and it looked as it was calling me. It was originating from a room. I entered that room, it looked just like mine. I was surprised to see that nobody was there. As I was about to leave, someone whispered my name “Natalia….Natalia”. I turned around and saw an old lady staring at me. She spoke very urgently, “If you want to live then get out of this Insane Asylum now!”. And the lights started flickering.

THE OLD WOMAN

I left the room and started running very fast. There were screams all around. I wanted to hide and looks like I picked up the kitchen. An old lady was sitting near the gas. I asked “What happened to you? Are you alright?”. She replied, “Please save me!” She came to me and held my hand and took me to a computer room. A file was kept there. She opened it and as was about to speak she fell. I started screaming and tried to hold her. She murmured, “ If you want to live, then leave this Insane Asylum now!” I picked up the file and rushed out of the computer room.

THE FILE     

The file was the ‘Records Of The Insane Asylum’. I went through the pages. It had records of the admitted people. On the last page of that file, I saw my name and read, ” Natalia Ryder wife of David Ryder was in a car accident along with two kids Lilia Ryder and Josh Ryder. In this accident, Mr Ryder and the kids died. Mrs Ryder was hurt on her head and was acting strangely. There were so many questions inside my head. I started crying, wanting to leave.

I looked around and saw a big window. As I opened the window to climb out someone tapped on my shoulder, there a man with lots of scars on his face.“Natalia! I am glad that you are alright!” said that man happily. I asked, “Who are you? And how do you know my name?”. He cried, “Don’t you remember me?” and disappeared. Then I saw a boy calling me “Mom! Mom!”. I thought I am not his mom. The boy said “I am glad that you are okay mom! I missed you so much!”.

THE ACCIDENT       

The boy hugged me and disappeared. I thought about why I am seeing these people. First that girl, then the old women, then that man and now this boy who just disappeared. I went back to my room looked at the photo. All the people in that photo matched with the people I saw. And I was able to remember everything. We were going on a family trip to Miami beach. Suddenly a truck smashed our car. Apparently there was brake failure

I was the only one who survived in that accident with a wound on the head. My whole family had died. After waking up from seven months of the coma I started acting strange so my mother admitted me in this Insane Asylum. I was overwhelmed and picked up the photo frame, kissed and hugged it. I laid down and closed my eyes with that photo frame in my hand.

EXITING THE INSANE ASYLUM

I saw my husband and my kids. They were smiling at me. I smiled back. They all said, “We love you”. David said “You were the best wife I could ever have. I struggled so much so that I could live a happy life. Thank you so much!”. “I love you, mom. You’re the best. The meals you cooked for us were amazing and so were the stories. You always dropped and picked me up from piano class. You helped me with my homework and bought me beautiful makeup products. Thank you so much!” said Lilia. “You always got up early to do the house stuff. Took care that I am never late for my soccer practice. You knew how much we loved dogs and then convinced dad to bring a dog in the house. Thank you so much mom” said Josh. My eyes filled up with tears after hearing their voice. I was going to hug them but suddenly they disappeared.

A lady entered my room. It was my aunt. She smiled at me “I know that you love your family. But it’s time to move on. Erase them from your mind but not your heart” said my aunt. I started crying but she made me comfortable. “You can get out from this asylum because you have recovered,” the aunt said happily. “But what was that I saw about this whole asylum and my family?” I asked curiously. “Your head was hurt in the accident. You must’ve been thinking about your family when started remembering things” said my aunt. I believed her because she was an expert psychologist. She helped me get up and walk out of that Insane Asylum.