We All Have Our Battles

Six in the morning. The battle begins.

Victoria Wang is waist deep in a snake pit. She has no idea how she wound up in the snake pit, but she concludes, wisely, that she should get out before asking questions. She begins to run through her mind a list of possible escape routes.

The Ringing disturbs her thoughts. To compare the sound to a ringing bell would be mistaken; it is more like a braying donkey. She finds it impossible to ignore. So she grunts, rolls over, and slams her hand down. The Ringing subsides.

She returns to her previous position and begins to grapple with the stone walls of the snake pit. There are countless fangs brushing against her legs. Her thick clothes save her from the venom – for now – but they also make her movements sluggish. Time is of the essence. A rope appears in her hands, attached to a grappling hook, and she prepares to hurl it up and over the lip of the snake pit.

The Ringing returns. The grappling hook falls uselessly onto the writhing snake by her elbow. Scowling, she rolls over and smacks her hand down a second time. The Ringing leaves.

She spins the grappling hook around by the rope, then sends it flying. It soars gloriously up the mile-tall wall of the snake pit and latches onto the rim perfectly. She moves quickly now – the snakes’ fangs are about to penetrate her clothes. She wraps her hand around the rope and begins to scale the wall, walking vertically and using the rope as leverage. It is a long and strenuous process, but with a last burst of willpower she boosts herself up the final stretch and clambers over the rim - she's out - she's safe -

The Ringing is back with a vengeance. The sound is physically and psychologically painful. She sticks one leg out from covers, then the other, and both feet touch the carpet floor of her bedroom. It takes an excruciating amount of willpower to extricate herself from the tangled snake pit of her blankets. But she does, eventually, and hauls herself to the alarm clock. This time she sets it to Off, not Snooze. She rubs her eyes irritably, then stumbles to the bathroom to take care of morning unpleasantries.

Time for another day to begin.