Trapped in the confounds of the small room, he felt like an animal. He could hear the sound of foot steps approaching. “Mr. Douglas,” said the nurse standing at the doorway, ‘Dr. Johnson will see you now.” He slowly got up from his spot and began his decent into the doctors office. As he walked through the halls, the other patients were running around their rooms looking for an escape or were held in straight jackets for safety concerns. He finally got to the office and hesitated at the door. “Come on in, James.” The hair on the back of his neck stood up and his face turned a ghostly shade of white at the sound of that voice. The room he entered looked similar to the patients that lived there. “So James, sit down, now let’s look at your progress.” Dr. Johnson pulled out a thick vanilla folder and flipped through the pages inside.

Minutes later Dr. Johnson looked at James with a devilish smile on his wrinkled face. Taking off his glasses he said, “I see you’ve made some improvement.” The word “some” slipped of his lips sadistically.

“When can I leave?” asked James avoiding contact with the dark eyes of Dr. Johnson.

“Not very soon James.” Dr. Johnson responded. James looked at his feet with disappointment. “If you continue at this rate, you can probably make it by your 30th birthday.” That statement brought no encouragement to him, his 30th birthday was still years away. The doctor might as well told him that he was in for life. They both sat in the office silently. James continued to look at his feet.

“James, I have a proposition for you,” said the doctor looking at James.

“Since you’ve made such improvements from when you first got here, I have decided to allow you one hour of free time outside each day. But...” his voice lowered, “if you try to run I will find you and you will be locked up for the rest of your life. Is that a deal?” James thought about the idea of the outside world. Being stuck in a mental hospital isn’t ideal and getting out for one hour is better than nothing, so he agreed to the conditions Dr. Johnson put in place.

James imagined what the world outside the mental hospital looked like. Possibly sunny skies and lush green trees or concrete fields with dark coals made from the burning coal plants. The day passed by slowly but finally the time came. The nurse came to the room to release him. Passing through the hallways, he finally came to the door leading to the outside world. The hospital was far away from any indications of civilization. He walked off into a patch of trees near the hospital. Going farther in the trees led him to a small stream. Down the stream, there was someone standing in the water. James walked down the stream towards the person. The figure was a girl standing in the water. She had a white dress on with long snow white hair. He was afraid to approach her. Stories of people attacking patients from the hospital had been spread around. She turned around and walked towards him. “Hello there,” she said to him. Her voice was a sweet sound and a change from the stern commands of therapists and nurses. “Hi,” he responded.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“James, whats your’s?”

“Lucy.”

“That’s a beautiful name,” he told her. She wasn’t afraid or shocked by his presence there. James on the other hand was terrified. Terrified that she would run and tell someone about the insane patient roaming around free. He tried to back away from her.

“Where are you going?” she asked him, her voice a gentle sound.

“I can’t stay.” he told her his voice trembling.

“Why not?” she asked confused.

“Because I can’t. I’m in a mental hospital,” he told her. He wondered himself why he couldn’t stay there.

“Why are you in the hospital?” she asked moving closer to him.

“Because the doctors say I’m insane.” he told her looking down at his feet.

“Well,” she said putting her hand gently against his cheek pulling his face towards her, “I don’t think you are insane.” He looked into her beautiful ice blue eyes and put his hand on top of hers. Time seemed to freeze at that moment and he forgot all of his fears, troubles, and the voice of the doctor ringing in his head disappeared and all that mattered was him. Then a loud voice rung out from the hospital calling James back in. He didn’t want to leave. But he had to obey Dr. Johnson rules or else he would lose her. “I have to go,” he told her.

“I will be here tomorrow to meet you.” She told him as he began to run off back to his prison.

The weeks went by and every day just as she said Lucy was waiting there to meet him. He went out to the place where they first met and Lucy was always there looking like a vision from a dream. They talked and James told her everything about him and she understood everything. It was like they were one in the same. Lucy was the only person who believed in his sanity and he never wanted to let her go. The rest of the day became unbearable because James looked forward to meeting Lucy outside the hospital. James returned each day and his life began to revolve around Lucy. They met again as always and the time went by too quickly.

One day instead of the nurse calling James in, she decided to go and get him. “James?” she called out unsure. James turned around when he heard the voice of the nurse.

“James I have to go. I will see you again soon.” Lucy told him.

“Please don’t go,” he begged. But it was too late and she was gone.

“James?” the nurse came down to where he was. “What are you doing?”

“Just talking to someone.” he told her.

“James, you were talking to yourself, no one else is around.”

“That’s not true,” he told her defensively.

She took him inside to Dr. Johnson and told the doctor about what she heard. “Dr. Johnson, he was talking to himself. I saw him through the trees just standing alone having a conversation with himself.” the nurse said flustered.

“You’re wrong,” he sternly told her.

“James,” said Dr. Johnson massaging his temples with his fingers, “Who were you talking to?”

“A young woman. She must live nearby. I see her everyday.”

“That’s impossible. No one lives within 100 miles of the hospital.”

“What?” the words trembled off of his lips.

“James, you’re imaging her.”

“No, no that’s not true.”

“James it is true. She’s all in your head. You have to let this illusion of yours go.”

“No!” he yelled

“James! You’re going to have to let her go.”

“I can’t!”

“Why not?”

“Because,” he held in tears of frustration, “I love her!”

Dr. Johnson sat in silence amazed at what he just heard. After a long pause, he looked at the nurse and said, “Take Mr. Douglas beck to his room.” James went back to his room a flustered mess. Lucy is real she has to be, he thought to himself. Everyone told him there was no one but James refused to believe him.

When James returned to his room he contemplated everything he had been told. The next day James went out to stream and Lucy was waiting as always. He didn’t look at her the same way after everything he had been told. What if everyone was right and Lucy was nothing more than a figment of his imagination. He knew that to hold on to Lucy was to let go of his freedom. He walked up and put his hand on her soft cheek. “Lucy,” he looked into her light blue eyes, “you aren’t real.”

“James, what are you talking about?” she asked confused.

“Lucy you are in my mind.”

“James that’s not true!”

“Lucy, its true you are in my mind.”

“James, please.” she said. He pulled his hand off of her cheek and told her. “I’m sorry but I have to go now.” He turned away from her slowly.

“James. James.” She called out to him as he walked away.

“Please don’t go. James, I love you.” She called out to him. He stopped at those words and thought about everything that had happened.

“Lucy, I’m sorry.” he said sadly and he continued walking down the stream. Lucy faded into the background and disappeared from James’ mind. As he continued to walk away, a single tear fell off his cheek.

As the years went by, James returned to Dr. Johnson’s office. “James, I’m proud of you son.” said Dr. Johnson.

“Thank you Doc.” James said confident and proud. That face which used to taunt him looked nothing like it used to, but instead like an old friend who took care of him over the years.

“James, its been interesting. All I can say now is happy 26th Birthday! You’re free to go.”

The doctor grinned showing James to the exit. They walked out the door together and said their final farewells. As the Dr. Johnson walked inside the hospital, James turned around to take in his freedom. As he observed the rolling landscape in front of him, he saw someone across the road. Her long shimmering hair swayed in the open wind and her pale blue eyes looked up at him. “Lucy,” he said gazing across the street.