This is part of a writing challenge. Click here to read more about it.
As I was sitting on my couch, devouring my dinner, my mind flitted excitedly to the realization that I have absolutely no plans tomorrow.
I’m free.
This got me thinking about how complex that word is. Free can mean without cost, without plans, without constraints or restrictions, and so on and so forth. In fact, supposedly free is also a sailing term. It’s a verb, and adjective and an adverb. It’s a word with a lot of meaning. It’s such a powerful word.
I understand that I probably sound a little a little crazy right now, but just bear with me. The sentence “I’m free”, opens up a world of possibilities. It’s perhaps even the perfect prompt for a story.
“I’m free.” She blurted out as he was walking away from the table. She hadn’t known him for very long, only 3 minutes and 43 seconds to be precise. But something about his raspy voice and the rate at which his words escaped him enraptured her. She had promised Louise that she wouldn’t meddle, not after what happened last time, but she couldn’t help it. Watching an opportunity pass by while sitting in a front-row seat, was not who she was. She was going to get involved and nothing aside of heaven intervening could stop her.
“I’m free!” He proclaimed over the stars. The chains that held him captive had finally been lifted. The prison that separated him from the people and things he loved had disintegrated into ashes, and the finish line now stood defeated, behind him. His head held high and fists raised in victory, he screamed once again, “It’s finally over. I’m free.”
Or perhaps we could look at the world opened by other variations of free.
She’s a free-spirit. Always has been, always will be. When she was six years old, she would find every hurt animal and bring it home to nurture, even though the sight was frequently greeted by anger and punishment. When she was twelve years old, she wore clothes in the brightest colors that perhaps even clashed horribly. Her classmates’ hushed whispers and loud chuckles didn’t bother her one bit. When she was seventeen, and others around her discussed dates and dances, much like Princess Aurora, she would stroll in her garden dancing with her dresses. Time went by and at times the world did get to her, like when her children accused her of being uncaring and pitiful, or when those closest to her left forever without a fair goodbye. When the people she loved and the people she cared for hurt her, her free spirit was captured and chained in a prison somewhere hidden. Years went by with her spirit only visible for seconds in reflections or micro-expressions, until the day she had enough. When she was forty-eight and struggled with pain and purpose, she put pen to paper and wrote stories that broke those chains and freed her unique and precious free-spirit.
Free is a powerful word, it means a multitude of things that are an avenue to a multitude of stories. Being free is no easy feat. Each one of us is bogged down and chained by something that keeps us captive. A busy schedule, a burdened heart, past pain, and brokenness. But to find something, a person, a place, an activity, something. Something that breaks those chains and brings you to the sunlight. Something that helps pays your price to the thing holding you captive. Something that, truly, sets you free.
~ Prisha Khimavat ~
Duration: 44 minutes and 09 seconds
Leave a Reply