May 19, 2022

Transcript from Dr. Margery Taylor’s recording device.

Dr. Taylor [Anne, it’s been awhile since our last session. How are you?]

Anne Montgomery [Sorry, it’s been a stressful start to the year.]

Dr. Taylor [I’m sorry to hear that. Has something happened since we last spoke?]

Anne Montgomery [A lot, but nothing that I can’t handle. You know me, I’ve always been tough.]

Dr. Taylor [Sure, you’ve been through a lot in life. I’m glad that you’re back. Is there any reason in particular you wanted to see me today?]

Anne Montgomery [Sigh. Pause for 10 seconds.] [I guess I’ve been feeling a bit depressed. You know, my dad died in December. My grandma didn’t invite me to the funeral. She was afraid I would cause a scene.]

Dr. Taylor [Yes, I remember you telling me that in our last session. Has your father’s passing impacted you a lot?]

Anne Montgomery [Pause for seven seconds] [I guess.]

Dr. Taylor [I’m sorry to hear that. Was it because it was so sudden?]

Anne Montgomery [I don’t think it was that sudden. I’d expected him to kill himself for years. I was more surprised that it took so long.]

Dr. Taylor [Brief pause] [What makes you say that?]

Anne Montgomery [She was so mean to him. And he was always weak, never stood up for himself. She beat him into submission.]

Dr. Taylor [By she you mean your mother?]

Anne Montgomery [You already know this but, she beat all of us. More emotionally than physically. But she was especially mean to him. She wouldn’t let him sleep. She’d keep him up for days at a time just to break him further.]

Dr. Taylor [You’ve mentioned this behavior before. Sleep torture. Not getting enough sleep can definitely cause turmoil in a person’s psyche. Have you been sleeping lately?]

Anne Montgomery [Not if I can help it. She haunts me in my dreams as much as she does when I’m awake.]

Dr. Taylor [I noticed you didn’t refill your Trazodone. Maybe we should have you visit the psychiatrist again if they aren’t working.]

Anne Montgomery [I never said they didn’t work. I just don’t like how they work. I’m asleep but…]

Dr. Taylor [But what?]

Anne Montgomery [But it doesn’t stop her from appearing. She likes when I sleep. I’m vulnerable.]

Dr. Taylor [Vulnerability isn’t a bad thing. Not sleeping because you feel vulnerable can make your delusions worse.]

Anne Montgomery [They aren’t delusions.]

Dr. Taylor [Sorry. Not sleeping can make your visions more intense.]

Anne Montgomery [Huphs] [At least I can fight back.]

[30 second pause]

Dr. Taylor [How has your foster family been? Have they been treating you well?]

Anne Montgomery [Yeah. They’re really nice. They have an in-ground pool.]

Dr. Taylor [What about the new school, have you made any friends?]

Anne Montgomery [I have friends. Not close ones, but I eat lunch with the kids in my theater class.]

Dr. Taylor [That’s great! So you’ve been more open to developing relationships?]

Anne Montgomery [Pause for 10 seconds] [I guess.]

Dr. Taylor [I’m happy to hear that. It can be difficult to develop a friendship at a new school, so it’s good that you’re branching out. Have you been enjoying the theater class?]

Anne Montgomery [Yeah, I’m good at acting. I think I might go to acting school.]

Dr. Taylor [It’s great to have goals like that to keep pushing you forward. Are there any other subjects you like in school?]

Anne Montgomery [I like math. Well, not geometry, but I like algebra.]

Dr. Taylor [That was my hardest subject, I’m glad you are liking the new school.]

Anne Montgomery [I hate English.]

Dr. Taylor [Why?]

Anne Montgomery [Brief pause] [We had an assignment last week. We had to write journal entries about our day-to-day lives. It had to be real, all stuff that really happened. I wrote about my mom yelling at me from outside my bedroom window. All of the teachers know that I’m a foster kid, and they know what happened. She said I couldn’t make stuff up and gave me a bad grade.]

Dr. Taylor [Brief pause] [That must have been hard. Did she say this in front of other students?]

Anne Montgomery [Yeah. Lily laughed at me. I heard her talking at lunch that day, she said that I was crazy.]

Dr. Taylor [Crazy is such an unkind word. Crazy can mean a million different thi–]

Anne Montgomery [Interrupting] [You know how she meant it.]

Dr. Taylor [Pause for six seconds] [It doesn’t make what she said right, or true.]

Anne Montgomery [It is true. I see my mom all of the time, even though I killed her three years ago. She’s always with me. She’s behind you right now, wagging her finger at me like she did when she caught me in a lie. She’s always angry. She was mean before and now she’s even more mean.]

Dr. Taylor [Anne, these visions that you have–]

Anne Montgomery [Interrupting] [Delusions. They’re delusions.]

Dr. Taylor [These…delusions that you’re having, they’re a part of a trauma response. They’re perfectly normal in people with PTSD. War veterans get flashbacks to the battlefield. You get the same thing.]

Anne Montgomery [She’s getting stronger, you know. I didn’t come back to you because she kept saying she was going to hurt you. I felt so alone the past few months. But the way she looks at you now…]

Dr. Taylor [The way she looks at me now?]

Anne Montgomery [Like a snack. Like a dog about to get a T-bone steak all to himself.]

Dr. Taylor [Anne, I–] [Pause for 23 seconds] [Coughing]

Anne Montgomery [Are you alright Margery?]

Dr. Taylor [Coughing, sputtering, gasping]

Anne Montgomery [I’m going to get help!]

Dr. Taylor [Coughing, sputtering, gasping]

Anne Montgomery [The door’s locked! I can’t open it!]

Dr. Taylor [Vomits]

Anne Montgomery [What do I do? Help! Help!] [Banging on door]

Dr. Taylor [Wheezes]

Dr. Taylor [Oh, little Annie. How I’ve missed you so much]

Anne Montgomery [No! No! Get off of me, please!]

[Muffled struggling]

End of Recording.