The coldest heart you've ever felt, the coldest hands you've ever held.

Captured....

I am being held captive by a girl who I don't recognize.
Between houses, the winding road, almost a dirt track meanders between bushes and trees and eventually leads to a lone house. Three stories high, although I only know the deepest one....the basement.
This is my home.
Incarcerated by a heavy chain around my ankle, limiting my movements to 4 feet this way or that.
Her reasons for keeping me here, unknown.
Her face, unfamiliar.
Her motive, unexplained.
All I know is that I'm unable to get free.

I toil with ideas of escape, all of which appear reachable and yet when the time comes, she foils them all.
Every last one of them.
She is always one step ahead of me.

I don't feel myself age and yet I know that my imprisonment has cast many shadows. People on the outside have either given up hope or simply forgotten about me. My reasons for breaking free faltering with every day. Hope sinking further away into the horizon.

She doesn't abuse me. She doesn't exploit me. She doesn't belittle me.

I have to break free.
My chance comes when we are out in the car together. My left arm is heavy with a chain around the steering wheel, which is only unlocked when she allows me to fill up with petrol. I approach the 'hatch' to pay, only to be gestured by the attendant that he will open the main doors for me.
With a little hesitation I enter the building, knowing that she will be furious with me. At the counter, I find myself glancing outside to see her storming towards the building, shouting and screaming at the attendant to let her in.
I have the chance....the chance to tell him to call the police and ask for help....
But....I can't.
I have no idea why....but I just can't ask him for help.

And the dream ends.