Mental Health Awareness: Snippets Part II
Must read: Mental Health Awareness: Snippets (Part-I)
It took them a week to realize what may have occurred.
When they finally barged into the room, she was not the first thing they spotted. Instead, they stared at the walls. Mouths opening and closing like fishes, the wardens were furious at what she had done. How could she deface the walls of their prestigious establishment like that?
The walls would become a significant part of the tragedy, at the hands of nosy gossipmongers who had nothing better than to contemplate about the life of a struggling female, who the world let down on countless occasions. Celebrating the tortured artist, they defended themselves as they broke into the police reports of her case.
Ironic, how on side of the coin people become well-wishers of all those suffering internally – at least, on the surface – yet, on the other side, when an artist is found to be troubled, they turn a blind eye to their suffering.
Their art wouldn’t exist without their agony, they meekly defend themselves, created masterpieces for the world, dedicated their lives to art. What a hypocritical stance, these well-wishers adopt.
The walls were covered in hues of violet, blue, purple, and grey. Patterns of every imaginable sort filled the entire space, from all four walls to the ceiling; even the floor wasn’t left untouched.
The room still smelled like paint, but there was another, particular scent in the air.
In some places, there were writings: four different languages, out of which one was yet to be deciphered by either the police or the public. “Fans” were hell-bent on coding the unknown runes, which appeared to be well developed, the police said because that’s all they knew about it. Reddit forums were created, dedicated solely to cracking the code to the writings, and theory after theory emerged. It was one of those controversies that would lead people on a wild goose chase, and become some kind of urban legend, shown underneath the umbrella of, “Top 5 Mysterious Deaths of the 21st Century,” or, “Top 10 Deaths that Baffled Experts,” and other conspiratorial videos.
Other noticeable aspects were the patterns. There was a pattern to everything painted. Be it circular, vertical, asymmetrical, geometrical, linear, all the painting was heavily patterned. They hadn’t yet discovered if there was a hidden meaning to it, nor had they formed links between any of the patterns. When alive, she’d had shelves filled with books upon books; at the time of her death there wasn’t a single book, notebook or piece of paper to be found. It had all been burnt to ashes, which were then mixed in paint, and used to create texture. How had no one identified the smoke? Surely, she had done it inside the room?
A room covered in art that they didn’t have the heart to remove, so they sanctioned it off, and forbid visits inside it. One brave volunteer had stepped forward to carry out the task of painting over the walls. He had left in sobbing fits, overcome by grief at the message on the walls. Most of the decipherable content was just poetry, which led many to believe the secret language may have been one last note to the world. How arrogant, and silly of them to make such assumptions! Were the walls not her legacy, the paints, the burnt books? Was the suicide not enough of a statement? No, they had to find meaning in everything, while blatantly overlooking the obvious!
And, why should her suicide be anything for the world? Why did her paintings bring joy to the world, despite pointing to a diseased mind?
Let’s admit it: we like to thrive in the pain of other individuals. Schadenfreude was never truer.
Alas, it took them time to remove the body from underneath the blankets, even as they carefully bagged the revolver. The only hue of red in the room was from her bits and blood splattered in that one spot.
Still, the world celebrated her as a tortured genius.
