The Shadow Creeping In

The shadow, the dark, the bleakness of the demon on my shoulders. Pushing me under the stillness of the water, forcing me into the depths of my mind. Even though I’m surrounded by the light the darkness takes over. My eyes become tunneled and fixed and all the awful feelings come flooding in, causing me to take deeper breaths and receiving little air. This demon knows me well, it knows where to poke and prod and to get maximum torture in my mind, an expert of its craft. It lets me become clear for moments at a time. Then it pushes me under, again and again, sinking its jagged teeth into my thoughts making my vision darker showing little to no light. The memories come flooding in to provoke a response, tears begin flooding from my eyes. My chest begins to contract and ache with the weight of my burdens to bear. Regrets pile in from the past and familiar faces of those I wronged whisper in my ears “you're to blame”. “ This is your fault”.

Panic begins to settle into my heart, my lungs burn while struggling to catch a breath. The dark cloaked figure of hell grins the long teeth-bearing smile of a torturer pushing his charge to submission. As I sink deeper and deeper into the blackness below, my begins to beat faster, my lungs agonizing for oxygen. The voices become louder and angrier, I clasp my hands around my ears to keep the voices at bay. The cloak of this dark figure begins to envelop me, its long tendrils of despair penetrate my skin and veins forcing the darkness in. I clench my fist around my head and my knees come up begging for it to stop. The deep laugh of the beast echoes through my soul make it crack and break like ice on a frozen lake. Reaching the lowest point of this cavern which is my mind, feeling helpless, alone, and broken. I look up at the demon before me its deep crimson eyes burning its words into mine, and just beyond the cloak weaving around it I see a speck of light.

It hovers there in still darkness like a firefly at twilight, it suddenly moves forward with great speed towards the monster of my mind. Passing it through it like a spear through armor, the bleak figure rives in pain but still smiling. More globs of light appear now attacking it without mercy, tearing chunks from its cloak severing the bonds that have hold of me. The deadly smile fading from its face as it begins to lose control. The lights become more violent, dealing blow after blow. Destroying chunks of tendrils and cloth in their wake. I begin to move upwards to the surface as the lights continue their onslaught of the creature, the beast becoming smaller the further I move. The light begins to follow surrounding me repairing the wounds and guiding me. They form a shield around swatting the remaining tendrils clutching and grabbing at my skin. I break the stillness of the surface with a flurry of splashing, taking in deep breaths, relieving my lungs as the pain begins to dim. The lights bob on the water around me filling with my warmth. My heartbeat steadies as they guide me to shore. I crawl up the shore to sit looking at the water, as the globs of light gently fade into the water and disappear. Sit up on look out onto the shadows gliding under the surface, I am safe for now but for how long?

Depression and anxiety are something I and many others suffer daily, some are good at hiding it and some are not so lucky. Be that speck of light for someone with mental health issues or going through a rough time. Be kind and don’t let the darkness win.