Mid-Week Flash Challenge - Week 27

This week's photo prompt was taken by London photographer Andy Bate as part of a Powder Dance series. He's got a wonderful portfolio, go take a peek.

Warning: possible triggers for Self Harm and/or Suicide
I had an opening for this story, but it came out differently. Being someone who has experienced mental health issues I know how sensitive these topics are. I personally have no experience with what I have written, but I have friends that have and have an understanding of it. Maybe this will help others understand too.  

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Release

Maddy was bleeding and she was relieved. It was coming out thick and fast and covering her in its glory. She ran her fingers over it and felt its warmth, the first warmth she’d felt in years.

It glimmered and shined in the dim bathroom light, the candles Maddy had set out picking up the nuances of texture as it slid down her skin.

She smiled.

It felt like a part of her had been released, set free from all the pressures of the world around her. It was like she had opened up a hole in her soul and its bright light was shining out, in all its red glory. She adored it.

She felt for the first time in so long, and it felt good to feel: positive rather than negative, happy rather than sad. It emitted from her like a beam, glistening off the walls and shimmering in the mirror when she looked at her face.

Maddy was not old, barely in her twenties, but she felt old and tired to her very core. Normally the mirror reflected that, but not tonight. Tonight the lines on her forehead had cleared and her eyes shone. She felt alive and energized.

She sat down on the edge of the bath, her legs almost jelly like in the excitement of the release, but balancing became tricky, so she slid down the side of the bath onto the floor.

As Maddy’s energy level subsided she felt a wave of tiredness sweep over her. She wrapped bandages round her cuts and secured them before allowing her eyes to fall shut. She would clean up properly after a rest, and before she faced the world again.