A heartbeat is a sign that the muscle in your chest is still working, that you're still alive. When it stops beating your life is over; you're simply just a mannequin on display for the world, no more hopes and dreams or laughs or deep conversations, just a soulless mannequin. When your heart beats fast, maybe you're scared or overexerting yourself. When your heart beats slow, maybe you're relaxed and in a meditated state, but for her, that is simply not the case.
Her heart was barely beating, her skin numb to the touch. All of the electricity in the world couldn't make her feel alive again. All hopes of getting her to feel happy again were pointless. She smiled and laughed, but even a complete stranger could tell it was in-genuine, simply a reflex she learned over the years. Sometimes you have to smile and laugh not for you, but for other people. That simple gesture somehow means the world to them when they see it, but it just numbs her more. They tried to help ease the pain they thought she felt, but the truth was that she couldn't feel a thing.
He left her numb, a lifeless skeleton merely existing within a breathing human. She didn't feel alive, simply cookie dough just filling a mold. They still didn't understand. Her heart was beating but she didn't feel alive. She felt hopeless. She felt like a lost cause. All of her trust in humanity was long gone, it walked out right after he dignity wished her goodbye. This was all she would amount to: lifeless smiles and robotic words. She wished upon stars, still believing in magic. What a silly little thing to believe in, but maybe, just maybe, she would pull a rabbit out of a hat and just like that, everything would be okay again. She would feel alive again, her heartbeat not being the only thing keeping her alive anymore. So she waited for the rabbit to come, in fact, she's still waiting, slowly falling asleep to the sound of a heartbeat.
C.V.