I'm standing in the center.
Brown hair, just a bit too long.
Blue-gray eyes, staring off into nothing.
Skin is too pale.
Bags, deep ones, under my eyes.
I'm smiling.
But there are tears pouring down from my eyes.
172Please respect copyright.PENANAgJcG4n2SrI
Around me is a storm.
A storm of lightning and clouds and thunder and debris.
The clouds whisper "death, death, death, death".172Please respect copyright.PENANA8nqTvsA98t
The thunder chuckles "gone, gone, gone, gone".
The debris screams "remember, remember, remember, remember!".
The lightning cracks.
And I forget.
172Please respect copyright.PENANACuVpEjfTPx
With each crack of the lightning, the world beneath the storm is illuminated.
People crawling over one another, grasping upward, trying to reach me. They wear no face, no clothes, contorting over one another, their hands claws, as blood flows down them, dripping from above.
Where I stand. Bleeding to feed people who can never drink.
172Please respect copyright.PENANABgYlX6jjnV
They climb over one another, clambering, shoving, toppling the tower and beginning again.
Beneath them is a pool. An ocean. A red ocean, gleaming with the blood I continue to lose.
172Please respect copyright.PENANAPtgy5qTFDE
Beneath this pool, there is still more.
How deep does this world go?
Don't worry. We're almost at the bottom.
Just below the ocean of blood is a city.
Of shining lights.
Where emotions dance across the streets.172Please respect copyright.PENANA2tnDjqpfxd
Happiness laughs as it spins, its dress sweeping away the tears of blood that drip from above.172Please respect copyright.PENANAXRSZwzRB6i
Rage screams, its armor glinting gold as it charges at my foes.172Please respect copyright.PENANAKZkbHbIF0Y
And, in the shadows, hidden away, lay chains. Chains, half-invisible and faded.
If you look closely, you can see where they lead.
To these emotions.
Trapped.
Unable to ascend past the pool of blood, lost in this shining city of lights.
172Please respect copyright.PENANA4kmPlrAtYk
Go deeper.
Still deeper.
Past the void of blackness, past the memories, like glowing bubbles of ever-changing light. Past that one memory. The one that is black. Ink-black and like goo, gloom and pain, swirling in itself.
And you finally see it.
172Please respect copyright.PENANAiN9VvIgafP
A light.
A shining, glittering, effervescent light.
Go closer.
It's a child. Innocent, full of life, brilliant.
And in its hand it holds a knife.
A knife coated in blood.
And to the side you see a teen child.
With a wound through their heart.
172Please respect copyright.PENANAp7v8mCpEbd
And you see them.
Mother, her arms wrapping around the child, the guilt of her love crushing the child, as he thinks i don't deserve her love.
Father, his eyes glaring lasers of fury and hatred, as the child thinks i don't deserve his love.172Please respect copyright.PENANAwUNCmU6p1d
Sister, her mouth spitting black darts, full of quiet criticism and open insult, as the child thinks i don't deserve their love.
172Please respect copyright.PENANA12NORNu7h4
I don't deserve their love.
I don't deserve their love.
Idon'tdeservetheirlove.
Idontdeservetheirlove.
idontdeservetheirloveidontdeservetheirloveidontdeservetheirlove because -
172Please respect copyright.PENANA2qfL1S3Sld
Because I'm me. Because I'm unlovable. Because I'll fail them all. Always.
172Please respect copyright.PENANAUHCcVUE6AW
Because I killed myself. The myself I should've been. I'm still a child, but my blood is on that child's hands.
Because I am that memory. That blackened memory, that I refuse to see, but I need to see, I need to see, I NEED TO SEE IT!172Please respect copyright.PENANAaIzYGaVWMD
Because I am those chains. Holding down my emotions. For them. Because I don't deserve their love. Their concern. They don't need to be worried about me.
Because of that pool of blood, growing growing growin. Because I can finally see the face of those thousand of people, constantly clambering for the me that cries. That smiles.
That feels.
Because I can see their faces. Because I know who they are. Because I know who wants to become that freer, happy, sad, emotional self.
Because they're me.172Please respect copyright.PENANA18xV4KduFl
Because I am that storm. Telling myself.
'death, death, death, death'.
'gone, gone, gone, gone'.
'remember, remember, remember, remember'.
172Please respect copyright.PENANAky1yl81VlV
The lightning cracks.
And I forget.
172Please respect copyright.PENANAEqzjOsUDGH
Because this is my mind.
ns13.58.173.156da2