psych-ward

You haven__ lived till you__e played Scrabble in a psych ward.

If the mind fits, shrink it.

When you go into the psych ward, you can__ have anything with you except colored pencils. You can__ have any electronics. If you have a drawstring on your pants, a belt, shoelaces, a hood, or extra-long fabric, your very clothes are ripped off your back. They search you with a metal detector like you__e a criminal, doing everything short of putting their hand up your butt. Before you go through those cold, automatic, barred doors, you know your life is not your own. This is especially true during the first week, while you stare at florescent lighting and wait impatiently for your meds to kick in. I wish I had remembered the psych ward prison cell a week ago. If I had, maybe I wouldn__ be wearing this hospital gown that they gave me until I can get more compliant clothes.

By the time she awoke she couldn__ even remember if she had a dream or a nightmare. There had only been a deathlike peace.