Self-Perception

:"I want to freeze time back when everyone was young and happy, when I didn’t have to worry, when I didn’t know mortality existed."
Self-Perception is a story in the intermission of The Yellow Butterflies. It is an experimental, dialogue-heavy piece that focuses on a meeting between an unnamed therapist and their unnamed patient, who struggles with grief, self-worth and suicide.
A PDF of the current draft can be found here.
== Plot Summary ==
An unnamed therapist and patient discuss the patient's suicidal ideation. The discussion moves from that to the causes of the patient's grief, including academic pressure and feelings of self-doubt.
As the story progresses, the pair swap places several times, using clipped dialogue to pick up each other's topic and assume the other's role. Additionally, the two seem to show awareness of what the other is thinking, pushing the boundaries of their therapist-patient relationship.
Eventually, as the tone shifts to a slightly more optimistic light, the duo reveal that they are aware of their being in a story, and they address their changing places and the fact that this story may never end due to the ever-shifting nature of the patient's mentality, before drawing the appointment to a close, agreeing to 'shut this down, for now'. 
The story ends in non-dialogue, with the narrator stating that "They both and neither exited and remained within a nondescript, formless room, together and parting like an ebbing ocean; they were themselves and the other, they were one and the same, and neither knew who was who."
== Characters ==
* The Patient - an undescribed individual who suffers from suicidal ideation. Experiences feelings of self-doubt, demotivation and inadequacy. Repeatedly swaps places with the Therapist. Is somewhat juvenile; laughs at the word 'climax'.
* The Therapist - an undescribed individual who appears to be a medical professional. Is patient and understanding, and talks the patient through their feelings, repeatedly swapping places with them.
== Trivia ==
* This is the most experimental story in the intermission due to its meta nature, and the one story that could never feasibly exist in a colkiverse, due to both characters being 'one and the same' and much of it being allegorical.
Category:Written Pieces
Category:Rhiannon H works