MS. CLAY-   BRIGHT HOPE COUNSELING CENTER<br/><br/><br/>Ms. Clay walked into the room, showing all outward signs of calm.  The room was fairly dim, its walls painted a dark blue, its lights dim.  Not far from the door was an incredibly plushy couch, which Ms. Clay quickly sat down in as directed.  She seemed to sink several inches into the chair, feeling a strange feeling of helplessness as the door closed.  Her traitor body remained perfect, oblivious to her inner world.<br/><br/>"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice."  Ms. Clay said politely, knowing she was apologizing in advance for what she would soon be doing.   "I just transferred here and... I've been having some trouble."  She said softly, eyes turned towards the ceiling, exposing a neck that had no pulse.  "It's been so hard, living in such a rainy city, not meeting any new people..."  She began, hands kept at her sides, feeding off the inner hurricane inside of her.  The longer one looked at her, the more improbably perfect she looked, the more something seemed subtly...<em>off</em>about her.<br/><br/>"I had a bad day today.  I had bad days all week.  It's like the kids just don't even care, it's like they don't care about me or what I'm doing at all."  She said, looking down towards the ground as she started gathering up the last little pieces of light inside of her, preparing to surrender totally to the shadows brewing inside her, getting stronger and stronger with each passing moment.  "I just wanted to talk to somebody... and for some reason, I'm not sure why...  I chose you."  She whispered, leaning forward in the couch and staring between her feet.