CONTINUATION @cyticblast
DORM ROOM – NIGHT
Only the blue-white glow of her phone illuminates the small room.
Sheila lies in bed, blankets pulled to her chin like armor. Her finger hovers over the search bar.
She types:
"Why am I missing periods?"
The results flood in. She scrolls frantically.
Pregnancy (no. impossible).
Stress (maybe. but why so long?).
Hormonal imbalance (what does that even mean?).
Her fingers move faster, as if speed will somehow deliver better news.
"Adult acne suddenly worse"
"Why am I always exhausted?"
"Can stress stop periods?"
"Am I infertile?"
She stops on that last one. Her breath catches.
Infertile.
The word hangs in the air like a ghost.
Sheila stares at the ceiling. Her phone slips from her fingers and lands on her pillow.
Silence.
Then—
A tiny, glowing creature appears at the foot of her bed. It's small, maybe the size of her thumb, with a little body made of shimmering light.
Sheila blinks.
Another one appears beside it. Then another. Then dozens.
Soon the room is filled with them—tiny hormone sprites, chattering and arguing and running in circles. They pull levers, press buttons, throw papers labeled "ESTROGEN" and "PROGESTERONE" into the air.
Inside a cartoon version of her ovaries, chaos reigns.
One sprite yells, "NOBODY KNOWS WHO'S IN CHARGE ANYMORE!"
Another shouts, "THE SCHEDULE IS BROKEN!"
A third waves a tiny clipboard: "OVULATION IS CANCELLED! FOREVER!"
Sheila groans.
"I'm officially losing my mind."
She laughs. It's a broken sound, half sob and half hysteria.
And then she's crying. Really crying. The kind that comes from somewhere deep and dark and scared.
She wipes her tears quickly, ashamed.
Don't cry. Don't show weakness. You're stronger than this. You can handle this.
But can she?
Sheila sits up. She pulls her sketchbook onto her lap, opens it to a blank page.
Her pencil moves before she can stop it.
She draws herself—a small figure trapped in a tangle of vines. The vines grow from her body, winding and twisting, thick with leaves but barren of flowers.
One tiny bud near her heart begins to open. Just a sliver. Just a hint of color.
She stares at it for a long moment.
What are you trying to say?
She closes the sketchbook.
Outside, the moon hangs low and silver. Somewhere in the distance, a car horn honks. Somewhere else, laughter spills from an open window.
And Sheila sits alone in the dark, wondering what tomorrow will bring.
Wondering if she'll ever feel like herself again.
Wondering if the bloom will ever come.
TO BE CONTINUED...
https://t.co/wZ3tIlw7el
PART-3, #cystblast
ART STUDIO – LATER
The smell of turpentine and wet paint fills the room. Sunlight streams through massive windows, catching the dust motes suspended in air like tiny galaxies.
Sheila stands at her easel, brush in hand. Her canvas stretches before her, an explosion of deep blues and purples.
But her hands won't stop trembling.
She tries to steady them. Breathes deep. Focuses on the image in her mind—a woman emerging from water, flowers growing from her fingertips. It was supposed to be beautiful. It was supposed to be her.
Dip. Paint. Stroke.
A single drop of crimson paint falls from the tip of her brush. It lands directly on the woman's face, spreading like a wound.
"No. No, no, no..."
Sheila grabs her rag, dabbing frantically. The color only smears. The face is ruined. Hours of work destroyed by one moment of weakness.
Across the room, applause erupts. Another student's work has been praised by the professor. Sheila doesn't look up. Can't look up.
She tears the page from her sketchbook—not the canvas, the sketchbook, because the canvas cost too much to destroy—and crumples it with shaking fists.
Her tablet reflects her face back at her.
And there it is.
A new pimple. Large. Painful. Growing on her chin like a traitorous flag.
She looks away.
She pulls her hoodie up, adjusts the fabric, and pretends she doesn't exist.
AT THE UNIVERSITY CAFETERIA
The fluorescent lights hum overhead. The chatter of hundreds of students fills the air, the clatter of trays and forks and spoons.
Sheila pokes at her salad. The lettuce is wilting. The cucumbers are soggy. Everything tastes like cardboard anyway.
Across the table, Winnie devours her pasta with gusto.
"Okay, so I've been thinking," Winnie says between bites. "About your symptoms."
Sheila freezes.
"Winnie—"
"No, hear me out. I did some research."
The word "research" makes Sheila's stomach clench. Because she's been doing research too. Late at night. In the dark. When she can't sleep and her mind spirals.
"You know," Winnie continues, "there's this condition. I can't remember the name. But it makes your periods all weird and you get acne and you're tired all the time—"
Sheila's chair scrapes back. "I need some air."
"Wait—Sheila!"
But she's already gone, practically running toward the exit.
I'm not ready to hear it. I'm not ready to know. What if there's no cure? What if it's permanent? What if—
TO BE CONTINUED. #CYTICBLAST
https://t.co/vM3wbi3KRo
CONTINUTION;
She quickly locks the screen before anyone passing can see. Before anyone can ask.
What's wrong with me?
MOMENTS LATER
"THERE you are!"
Winnie's voice cuts through the fog, bright and relentless as the sun itself. She skids to a stop in front of Sheila, her messy bun wobbling dangerously.
"You vanished after class yesterday. I thought maybe—" Winnie's eyes narrow playfully. "—you finally got a boyfriend and you're hiding him from me?"
Sheila forces a smile. It hurts. Everything hurts.
"I wish." Her voice comes out thin. "I've just been... tired."
Winnie's expression shifts. She's known Sheila too long to buy that. The dark circles under Sheila's eyes are impossible to miss. They've been getting worse for months.
"Tired?" Winnie echoes. "You've been saying that since February. It's April. And you're an art student. You're always tired."
Sheila laughs—a hollow sound. "Exactly."
But Winnie isn't finished. "And you've been wearing hoodies every single day. Even when it's hot. And you barely touch your food at lunch. And you keep staring off into space like—"
"Winnie. I'm fine."
The words come out sharper than intended. Winnie steps back, wounded.
"Okay," she says softly. "Okay."
They walk in silence toward the art building. Sheila can feel Winnie's worried gaze on her like a second skin, but she doesn't turn around. She can't. Because if she turns around, she might fall apart.
TO BE CONTINUED...
#cysticblast
https://t.co/ARIqwToxGP
Episode 1 – The Uninvited Changes
UNIVERSITY CAMPUS – MORNING
The sun spills across the campus like warm honey, catching the edges of cherry blossom petals as they swirl in lazy spirals. Students weave through the courtyard—some laughing, some rushing with coffee cups held high, others sprawled on benches soaking in the rare spring warmth. A bicycle zips past, its bell chiming a cheerful warning.
Sheila stands at the edge of it all, sketchbook clutched to her chest like armor. She's been standing there for three minutes, watching the world move without her.
Just walk, she tells herself. It's just a walk to class. You've done it a thousand times.
She takes a step.
Then—THUMP.
A searing pain rips through her lower abdomen. Not the dull ache she's grown used to, the one she's been telling herself is "just stress." No. This is different. This is a knife twisting in the dark.
Her vision blurs. The laughter around her suddenly sounds muffled, underwater. Petals freeze in midair like scattered embers.
Sheila's knees buckle. She catches herself against the nearest tree, fingernails digging into the bark.
Not now. Please not now. Not here. Not in front of everyone.
Her breath comes in ragged gasps as she slides down the trunk, crouching low. Another pulse of pain. Hot. Demanding.
She forces herself to look at her phone. The period tracker app stares back like an accusation.
Expected: 14 days ago
Status: No period recorded.
She quickly locks the screen before anyone passing can see. Before anyone can ask.
What's wrong with me?
Join Sheila next episode as she learns the truth—and begins her journey to understanding her body and reclaiming her power.
https://t.co/NhGJoQEU78
#cyticblast
Malachi 3:10 NIV
[10] Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.