Freedom

A long, jagged steel spike had been violently rammed into my chest, tearing through my heart. A burning began to spread through my body. My nerves, so alive and squealing, kept me from breathing. Eternity passed, and I was unable to even begin to process the idea of removing it. It pinned both my body and my mind down. Searing agony kept all rational thought at bay. I thrashed and writhed, raged and wept as the endless seconds stretched over aeons through my infinite hell.
Fathomless amounts of time passed, and I had numbed. The unbearable wall of white noise was now but a loud hum. My thoughts flowed, coming from a small spring, and eventually forming a river.
It began as a question. A doubt of the course of action that needed to be taken. I forged that question into a resolve. I molded it into a tool and an instruction. I grasped any and all strength that remained, and pulled.
It was not as painful as I thought it would be. Difficult, but not impossible.
With three heaves, I was free. I bellowed and roared, from the adrenaline and the joy.
I gazed down and saw the gaping hole in my chest. I relished the sheer freedom from the pain that had dominated and enslaved me. And then something curious occurred - an odd, empty feeling. I felt my hand linger at my wound... and this strange compulsion to place the spike back in me.
I stayed my hand. I will let myself heal instead.
I went on my way, and felt my wound begin to close.
For the first time in a long time, I smiled.