‘Okay guys!’ - Said Barbara, one of the unit’s therapists - ‘Let’s settle down and make a circle.’

Another month had passed - and he was now participating in group therapy sessions. The group that Barbara ran was called “I am Present” - and was a cognitive behavioral therapy session for the group members to join and discuss what led them to the unit, and what they would be doing to stay healthy when they left.

‘Now let’s recap the rules’ - said Barbara, a meaty looking woman with curly brown hair and thick rimmed glasses - ‘Firstly, you can only talk when you’re holding the “pillow of self”’ - Barbara held up a pillow with a heart embroidered on it - ‘Second - we only use words, not actions! This is very important. Thirdly - we listen and we never judge. Everyone here I’m sure has regrets about some of the things they may have done - the purpose of these sessions is to take ownership of our own mistakes, not to judge other people….’

A man interrupted Barbara - ‘When you said “everyone here has regrets” - does that mean you have regrets too, Barbara?’

Barbara stared at the man - ‘And rule number four - be honest with yourself, and hold yourself accountable. Okay - so who wants to start and tell us how they arrived here?’

There were six patients in the group. A young looking woman put her hand up.

Barbara passed her the “pillow of self”, and then she smiled uneasily before speaking - ‘So, like I met this guy named Ranger, and we like started hanging out and smoking meth and stuff. And he was like really into this group that met and was like into this flat earth stuff. And, like Ranger was like really getting into this and we were smoking a lot of meth and he was like “I’m going to build a ship and fly up and prove that the earth is flat” - and so we like moved out to the desert and lived in this trailer, and Ranger like started building his spaceship. And like my folks came out to the desert and tried to take me back with them, but Ranger like got his gun and was like “you try to take her and I am gonna fucking kill you!’ - and so my folks left, and we just like hung out and smoked meth and Ranger said that he was going to make a million dollars from sponsorship of his spaceship from like Burger King and Coca-Cola, and then like one day in the trailer after smoking a load of meth for like one hundred days in a row the toaster was like talking to me and telling me that Ranger was a fucking loser, so I told him that the toaster was telling me he was like a fucking loser and he went like fucking crazy and poured gasoline over the trailer and burned it down, and then we had to sleep in his truck and then he like said he was going to like launch his rocket. So he took off and he exploded, and then the cops showed up and they like found Ranger’s gun and said it was used in a murder at like a convenience store in El Paso or some other crap and I was like arrested and taken back to my folks, and my dad like caught me emptying all of the flower pots in the house looking for meth, and then at breakfast my kid brother like called me “Flat Earth Fiona” and I like stabbed him.’

Everyone stared at her.

‘Thank you for that’ - said Barbara swallowing hard - ‘And what are some of the things you’ve learned from what you have….’

One of the male patients interrupted - ‘How far did the rocket get off the ground before it exploded?’

‘Oh - like maybe like 4 or 5 feet.’

‘Cool!’

Barbara cut them off - ‘I just want to remind everyone of rule one - you can only talk when you’re holding the “pillow of self”.’

‘You aren’t holding the pillow and you’re talking’ - said the male patient.

‘I don’t need to hold the pillow to talk’ - said Barbara.

‘You see that? That is the inherent unfairness of the system’ - said the male patient - ‘We’re forced to hold a pillow with a heart stitched on it to be able to speak freely, whilst the ruling class operate outside of those rules and are free to do as they please!’

Barbara glared briefly at the male patient, before turning back to the female patient, ‘‘As I was saying - what are some of the things you have learned from what you have told us, of your journey to where you are today?’

The female patient scratched her hair - ‘Like, I think the most important thing is like don’t build rockets unless you’re like a rocket surgeon, or something.’

Barbara tried to smile - ‘And anything else?’

‘And like don’t stab your brother.’

Barbara snatched the “pillow of self” back - ‘What about you?’

She handed the man the pillow, and he held it and stared at it. He looked at the others in the group and then looked at Barbara. Barbara smiled - ‘Don’t worry - you’re amongst friends.’

He looked back at the pillow, and then spoke - ‘So I imagined that I was a serial killer, and that I was being hunted by an alien who was trying to catch me and put me in a museum as a serial killer exhibit.’

‘That is fucking crazy!’ - Said one of the other patients.

‘Like you know - that is like pretty cool. That could like totally be the story for like a book or a movie’ - said the female patient - ‘Like an alien who hunts serial killers!’

‘Remember rule one!’ - Barbara cautioned.

‘So how many people did you kill?’ - Asked another patient.

‘Rule one people!’ - Barbara said, getting irate.

‘Yeah - it is almost like Terminator 2. Where Sarah Conner is stuck in the insane hospital and no one believes that the Terminator is real’ - said another patient - ‘And they think she is just some crazy psycho, and then the Terminator turns up and the doctors are like “Whoa! She isn’t fucking crazy and there is a fucking Terminator!”’

‘RULE FUCKING ONE!!!!’ - Barbara screamed, leaping up from her chair.

Everyone stopped and stared at her.

‘One rule for us, and another for them’ - said the same male patient - ‘If we did that, we would be sedated and strapped to the bed!’

Barbara composed herself - ‘I’m sorry for that little outburst, but we must remember rule number one. It is a very important rule!’

There was silence. Barbara sat down and smiled again - ‘And what lessons have you learned from this journey that has brought you here today?’

He looked at everyone’s faces, and then at Barbara - ‘Well, I guess that….the first thing is that I’m not a serial killer, and it was just stuff that I made up. Dr. Ambrose says we’re working on the reasons why I did this. And the other thing is that aliens aren’t real - and that I am not being hunted by one.’

‘I’m just like saying’ - the female patient interrupted - ‘It is still like a totally cool idea for a story!’

Barbara closed her eyes and took a deep breath - ‘And anything else?’

‘And - I guess - that it’s really important I take my medication.’

Barbara opened her eyes - ‘I think that will do it for today. Good work everyone!’