Helen

I don’t remember Helen ever losing her mind. For most, there is a breaking point. There is a moment that flips a switch, there is a flash of light before the deafening dark.

Not for Helen. Hers was a slow, measured descent. In the beginning, I think I even had hope that maybe, just maybe, she would find peace here.

She always seemed so sweet. She liked it here. She shared a space with Bella really well, all things considered. The two of them lived in a nice kitchen, with a never ending feast.

Helen never told me why, but I can usually tell how a person ended up here based on how their room turns out. 

There is always a force that drives someone to this place. For most, it is misery. For Salli, it was helplessness. 

And for Helen, it was famine.

I don’t know what she was starved of before all this. I don’t know if it was really about the food at all. But she was empty inside when she came to me, and I thought that I could bring her to a place that would fill her up.

But it never truly works that way.