No Strings Attached | Teen Ink

No Strings Attached

May 3, 2021
By SparrowSun ELITE, X, Vermont
SparrowSun ELITE, X, Vermont
200 articles 23 photos 1053 comments

Favorite Quote:
"It Will Be Good." (complicated semi-spiritual emotional story.)

"Upon his bench the pieces lay
As if an artwork on display
Of gears and hands
And wire-thin bands
That glisten in dim candle play." -Janice T., Clockwork[love that poem, dont know why, im not steampunk]


you go about your day to day life. over. and over. and over. the monotony never changes, your actions never change, and you never change. you are eternally locked in a place of solid color with nothing surrounding you, but you firmly believe that you have a house, a family, a life. until one day, maybe it's been a year, maybe a thousand, time has no meaning, and you can't recall a beginning anyway, something changes.

You look up. and above you, you see strings. quickly, your head jerks down, you weren't meant to tilt up your head. but it's too late. your imagined, false world melts from around you and you see the truth of where you are. an empty, confusing place. 

"well, puppet. you know the truth. here, take these scissors, cut yourself loose. you are of no worth to me if you don't go on. or, forget this and continue. be happy. the choice is yours." what? you turn, swinging slightly, lifelessly, and see scissors next to you. freedom. you take them, finding yourself in possession of your strength, and cut the strings, one by one, relishing the twang, until only one remains.

"cut it. be free." you don't pause to think about why it wants you free, you snap the scissors, one last time, listening to the sound of the scissors closing, the string snapping. they dissipated, like mist. you inhale, hoping to smell the air sweeter with the freedom you didn't miss. and then you fall.

you stare up at the ever farther strings. they held you up. without them, you are free, you have a form of life, and... you are falling and there's no gilded cage to save you. knowing what you know now, should you have cut the strings, reader?


The author's comments:

inspired by the cover picture of a poem on ti, I didn't read it and I don't remember the title, but a puppet woman was cutting herself free... but I had to ask if it was a good thing.


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This article has 2 comments.


on May. 5 2021 at 10:02 am
SparrowSun ELITE, X, Vermont
200 articles 23 photos 1053 comments

Favorite Quote:
"It Will Be Good." (complicated semi-spiritual emotional story.)

"Upon his bench the pieces lay
As if an artwork on display
Of gears and hands
And wire-thin bands
That glisten in dim candle play." -Janice T., Clockwork[love that poem, dont know why, im not steampunk]

i wonder what irl aplications this has

on May. 4 2021 at 9:53 pm
SparrowSun ELITE, X, Vermont
200 articles 23 photos 1053 comments

Favorite Quote:
"It Will Be Good." (complicated semi-spiritual emotional story.)

"Upon his bench the pieces lay
As if an artwork on display
Of gears and hands
And wire-thin bands
That glisten in dim candle play." -Janice T., Clockwork[love that poem, dont know why, im not steampunk]

i think... well was the life before even a life? i suppose falling eternally is better than the other thing but gosh its a hard choice. if it were me, honestly I think I would forget it and stick with what I was familiar with. but from my safe, secure place I like to imagine I would choose death, or maybe falling forever? over the safe lie.