A pull of the cord illuminates the neon sign
Invisible gases pass through the glass tubes
They flicker for a split second
Then they begin to glow

It reads, "NO VACANCY"
A glowing symbol for "leave us the **** alone"
or "get lost" .. to which one applied to me
HELL I didnt know.
Each single red letter determined my fate

I needed a place to lay my head down,
to rest the troubles of my life
You know the ones
The torment, the abuse, the bullying, the screams and the pain and those are the easy ones

Pounding on the keymaster's door,
I yelled at the top of my lungs
"Please give me a key"
But still no answer
Then my ears deceived my brain..
Finally, words that interrupted the silence

I waited for more
But silence pursued my mind once again
I pounded harder this time
Slamming my fist into the wooden door, my face turning beet red with anger and the veins pulsating in my neck as if they were about to burst like a balloon

Crash!! The tender glass shattered, breaking into a million pieces, ricocheting off my face as each piece began to dance waltzes on the distant floor

The door creaked open
It was then, just as I was about to ring the bell
My eyes opened wide
I woke up blurry from that nightmare
Strapped tight to an asylum's gurney

I couldn't move, pressured to the bed with ruthless white straps
Imprinting the cold metal buckle onto my forehead
I was trapped insane

That red neon sign glowed once again
This time in plain sight
Only a few feet from my eyes
My sight grew weary and my mind grew numb

The sign was clear and read "NO VACANCY INSIDE MY BRAIN"