when reality gets skewed

june 12, 2022

the day everything changed.

i was 19.

thought everything was going well -

got my first corporate job,

bought my first car,

and was studying for my summer classes,

felt like i was finally catching up,

finally breathing again,

after years of drowning in silence.

i remember noticing something off days before

feeling eyes staring at me everywhere i go

even when the room was empty.

eyes,

everywhere.

on the way to work,

at the office,

and even at home.

i started getting phone calls

in the middle of the night -

no name, no number, just silence,

or static,

or a whisper of "beware of her."

i told myself it was nothing.

told myself it was stress -

classes, deadlines, new job nerves,

maybe even burnout.

but deep down,

my body knew.

my gut had already sounded the alarm.

something was coming.

something that didn't care

how hard i had worked

or how hopeful i had become.

june 12, 2022

the day i learned

that some demons don't wait til dark

to show themselves,

they come dressed in light,

in love,

and in everything you thought you could trust.