Short Story: If the Coin Drops...

Female's Point of View - Brainwashing - Hypnosis

I have to focus on the coin pressed against the wall before me. That is the only thing I can do. I just need to endure and focus until my time is up. If I can’t…

If the coin drops to the floor before my training is done...

Then I’ll have to sit in the soft...Cozy... Frightening chair...

The chair he has me sit in when he hypnotizes me...

Brainwashes me...

He told me that if I could prove to him that I can be trained and obey, then he’ll stop conditioning my mind. I have to do this. I have to prove I can be trained without his hypnotic help.

---

Because if I don’t, he’ll do it for me...

All I have to do is focus on the coin and make sure it stays firmly against the wall. Because if it falls down to the ground, he’ll sit me in that chair and hypnotize me again.

Which basically means that if the coin drops right now, I’ll be forced to drop in turn.

I can’t let that happen.

Focus on the coin.

Don’t let it drop.

Every time I lose one of his little games, I lose another small part of myself as I sink deeper into his control. My memories are already so fuzzy and unclear. I can’t tell which are authentic and which are corrupt. 

Did I choose this arrangement?

I feel like I did... Or maybe that’s something he implanted during those long hours of mind breaking brainwashing.

Surely it is...

Why would I choose to be trained like this?

*Slip*

No, no, no...

Focus on the coin.

Don’t let it drop.

I have to keep myself focused or else my mind will wander and I’ll move. And if I move my nose won’t press hard enough on the coin and it will drop.

I can’t let it drop... I just can’t.

I have to keep a tight hold on the parts of my mind that are left to me or else he’ll keep shrinking them until I’m no longer myself.

*Slip* 

FOCUS.

Focus on the coin.

Don’t let it drop or he’ll drop you. He promised as much...

If the coin drops, I will drop...

I can’t let it drop so I need to clear my mind and keep focusing until the hour is up and I proved to him I can be trained without being brainwashed.

Focus on the coin.

If it drops, you’ll drop.

I can feel my body cramping up. Aching slightly as I stand here clasping my arms in my back while he watches me intently. But I can’t think about all that because the more I focus on my aches and his all seeing stare, the less I focus on the coin and if I stop focusing on the coin...

The coin will drop and so will I.

Focus on the coin...

I know I can do this because I desperately want to avoid sitting in that cozy... Comfortable... Relaxing chair...

NO.

Focus on the coin. Nothing else.

If the coin drops, I drop.

Press your nose against it firmly and all will be ok. Ignore the slow tics and tocs you hear echoing in the empty space. It’s just the grandfather clock in the other room. 

Don’t fall prey to its rhythmic sway...

You know what you must focus on.

If the coin drops, I drop.

Focus on that and nothing else. 

Forget how long an hour actually is and just focus on the coin. The hour will tick by without incident and I’ll avoid being mind melted before bed.

Clear your mind and it will be easy.

Focus on the coin.

If the coin drops, I drop.

Stay calm and breathe slowly so the coin stays fixed on the wall.

If the coin drops, I drop.

In and out... Breathing relaxed and steady. Remembering what is most important in this moment. If you stress out, you’ll fail.

The coin.

If it drops, I’ll drop.

Forget the clock... The aches... The chair...

Focus and relax.

If the coin drops.

I drop.

If the coin drops.

I drop.

If the coin...

Drops...

I drop...

If the...

Coin...

Drops...

I drop...

If...

...

Drops...

...

I...

...

Drop...

*Grandfather clock chimes the hour* 

*Clink*

My eyes fluttered as the coin slipped down the wall and hit the ground.

The coin dropped.

So I dropped.