Rising from the Abyss

The phone was lying on the old wooden table in the dark corner of the small cabin. The screen flickered with an unclear display, and the sound of charging blended with the silence of the night. The ringtone resembling a distant chime disturbed the quiet of the place, as if it brought back a past he had been attempting to overlook.

The wind was howling outside, and he sat on the worn-out couch in the corner, wrapping himself in a thin blanket. The pain started to creep in suddenly, not as a clear physical pain, but as a strange sensation spreading through every cell in his body. Gravity felt like it was either nonexistent or so intense that it was pulling his body down unnaturally.

He felt as though his mind had lost its ability to comprehend, and everything around him was moving at an overwhelming speed. His thoughts scattered, like leaves in a storm that never seemed to end.

He remembered the first time he tried drugs. It was one cold evening in the small town where he grew up. He had walked through the dark streets with some friends, feeling a strange sense of freedom and recklessness. That moment of "just trying it" was the start of a downward spiral he hadn't anticipated.

Days passed, and the drugs gradually became more central to his life. It started out simple — a needle here and there — but the quantity increased. Life became a cycle dictated by the drug, and he lost opportunities one by one.

Now, years later, he found himself in this remote cabin, surrounded by darkness and the quiet filled with feelings of regret and pain. It wasn't just physical pain; it was a deep internal emptiness. He felt as though something was crawling beneath his skin, pressing against his chest. Loneliness was all he knew, and everything felt beyond his control.

But in that moment, he realized it didn't have to end here. He remembered the therapy sessions he had started earlier, where he tried desperately to free himself from this heavy burden. He recalled how the doctor had advised him to teach himself how to face the tough moments through meditation and breathing. "You have to endure the pain instead of running away from it," the doctor’s words echoed in his mind.

At that moment, he made a decision. Slowly, he began to take deep breaths, focusing on every inhale and exhale, trying to regain control over his body. He knew the pain wouldn't vanish overnight, but if he kept trying, he would be able to endure this struggle.

Hours passed, and the cabin grew quieter. The wind had stopped, and the darkness began to retreat. The gravity that had once pulled him to the ground started to return to its normal state. He felt his mind start to clear, and he realized he was capable of facing this moment. It was the moment he understood that he could stand up again.

As he watched the faint light creeping through the window, he felt a glimmer of hope for the first time in years. The road ahead would still be long, but he discovered something important: recovery begins in the moments when you choose to fight back.