Abigail Monologue

Abigail sat still and quiet, hoping she would go unnoticed before falling victim like the others had. It was judgment day all over again and it had only been a week since the last. Each rock of her body drew eyes to her careless movements and Abigail's inmates eye’s screamed at her to stop. If she continued to act out, she’d be chosen as the next meal, the next victim.

The desire to escape brewed within her stomach. The pot was stirred with each plea from the current target, making Abigail's insides flip and let out a low growl. She could tell that his cry for acceptance was coming to an end as his argument grew with passion. Abigail let her head wander around the room, scanning it for the location of the predator. It wasn’t a challenge for
Abigail to find her, it’s not hard to miss someone prancing around the room, laughing at her little minions. The predator chooses her victims like how a child chooses what ice cream flavour they want, painstakingly slow. The grueling moments felt like hours passing by, not knowing what storm the weather was bringing. The room was filled with silence, everyone's head was bowed or glancing away from the beast. The rumour had it that if you made eye contact with them, you’d be selected without question, at least that was whispered around like chinese whispers. Please don’t choose me, please don’t choose…

The call of her name brought the quivering to a halt and her head jolted up.
The sweet and gentle tone was singing its tune again, luring in its prey to enter it’s trap. The whimpers and pants exited her mouth, rushing to escape and leave. She wish she could do the same. Abigails anxiety and intelligence fought a battle to overpower her mind and take control of her thoughts. Plans of how to escape overruled what Abigail should have been focusing on. Her speech. Her one chance to prove how much more worthy she is than the rest of the pack. Maybe she could curl up into a cocoon or use her little paws to bury her way out of
this.

“Abigail, it’s your turn sweetie,” The sicking noise rang in her ears, trapped and was repeated over and over again for Abigail.

“It’s your turn sweetie” She mocked under her breath. “Why must I always have the worst luck.”

Boiling with anger, the pot's contents began to rise past Abigail's heart which was pounding against its cage and up to her throat.
Swallowing the salty bile back down, she cautiously uncrossed her legs and unwillingly rose. The podium was in eyesight, but so was her freedom. Pushing her way through the crowds she could she the pure happiness jumping off the others, feeling less victimised as ever. Each step she took she became closer to her death, or was it her escape, she hadn’t decided yet. The others began to snicker as they could smell Abigail's fear radiating off each slow, agonizing drag of her feet. Swaying her body between the door and the stage she made her decision.

Her legs powered towards the exit, diving between obstacles and jumping over the innocent. Screams and cheers of encouragement pushed her further as she leaped for the handle and blocked out the cries of the predator. She couldn’t let one escape, it was in her nature not to. As Abigail grabbed the handle she realised the mistake she had made. Twisting and pulling did no justice, it wouldn’t budge. Defeat was the new substance which spread through her veins, slowly taking over her body and the weight of it dragged her down to the ripped carpet. No tears, no
sobs.

She felt arms embrace her like a teddy bear and the bear pulled her up. Without a word, she encouraged Abigail to the front of the room where all eyes were glued to her beetroot coloured face. Her hand was magnetically drawn to her back pocket and out came her palm cards. It was now or never she repeated to herself as the words flowed off her tongue and into the room.

The faces of the students became blurry and she soon forgot about the horror that had haunted her before. Her heart stopped banging against the walls of her chest and her stomach was rid of the horrid anxiety. The class clapped as she finished her speech and welcomed her back to her seat. Accomplishment rushed through Abigail as the teacher gave her a warm hearted smile and thanked her.