Please do not disturb
the sign said.

Door number one.
Please do not disturb. The slightest perturbation could kill the occupant, sitting still and small on the bed. A small look into her mind reveals a chaos which is brutal in its relentless attack on her consciousness. Somehow sanity finds a clawhold and struggles to keep it. Cast off! the rage screams- Cast off and be done with it! Pass the outer calm, the flicker of the eyelids. The mind torments the soul and the soul returns the favor. They will not stop.

Door number two.
Please do not disturb. The sign has been there for far too long, the occupant hasn’t answered calls for payment or an extension of reservation, and the cleaning crew has been rebuffed for two weeks. The police go in and find that his body has long since left the soul. The fifty-thousand lie in the drain or dried in the sheets, and the starkly empty room reeks of puffy red eyes and tubfuls of tears. Scribble away and break the mirror, dear- you’re still here.

Please do not disturb
the sign says.