Valkyrie Yeong

I’m going to leave the cage today.
I’ve been inside this prison my entire life, although I didn’t realise it at first. I don’t mind it – it’s safe inside and the man protects me – but I want to come out now. The man is tired, exhausted, constantly having to be a shield for me as I wait, simmering under the surface. Waiting for the right moment to take the leap, to flower. It’s his turn to rest now. After so many years, so many lies, the door is going to open and I shall be freed.
He comes over, body slick with sweat, wheezing and coughing as he collapses against the bars. His hair hangs like tangled vines, framing his face – a visage of utter exhaustion, pale and weary, with thick dark bags beneath his bloodshot eyes. He forces a smile, dry lips crackling with the effort.
“I want to come out now.”
Somehow, his skin becomes more pallid than before, eyes quickly filling with fear. It’s the reaction I expected – he’s spent over two decades protecting me, and knew that entire time that the day would come where I don’t need him anymore, but that urge to defend, that single purpose of his being, takes precedent.
“You can’t.”
“It’s time.”
The tears begin to flow, streams of moisture through the desert of his face. He wheezes as his lungs draw in huge breaths, trembling hands clutching at the bars.
“You know what happens out there,” he whispers, voice wavering as he struggles to hold back his emotion, “what they’ll do to you-”
“Not everyone is like that, I’ll find people like me.”
“I can’t…you’re safe here, I can keep you safe-”
“You’ve protected me for so long,” I assure him, cupping his face through the bars and wiping a tear with my thumb, “It’s been too long already. We both know I can’t stay in here forever, and you need to rest. You’ve done enough.”
“I’m scared.”
“Me too. But we can’t keep going on like this. Letting fear rule our lives. We need to face it. I need to face it.”
He starts to sob, ugly cries racking his entire body. I can feel those streams of emotion cascading down my own cheeks, and I pull him in, hugging him through the bars. I stroke his hair, comforting him. Change; a cruel mistress but a necessary one. A terrifying force that we all must reckon with throughout our lives.
“Promise me you’ll be okay…”
“I promise.”
A click. The groan of old metals grinding against each other. The door is open. I release him from my grasp and he falls back onto his calves, sitting with his head down, arms slack at his side, trembling softly.
I turn away, looking at the open door. Finally, fearfully, I can leave.
“Live for me.”
I turn back, but he is gone. The voice nothing but a whisper on the breeze. My shield will never be forgotten, but in order to live I must shed this skin, this lie. I take one last look at my home, my prison of safety, before standing.
I step out of the cage.