143

Published | Mace and Crown 2020

https://maceandcrown.com/1263/magazines/mace-crown-fall-2020/

She took a breath and tried to focus all of herself into a clear, concise thought that could be pressed down like peonies, while the anxiety warbled and fought against the leather-bound depressive episodes sugarcoated in blanketed nightmares, and the rabid suicidal tendencies and ideations bit and snarled at one another like children fighting over the last bit of cotton candy at the fair, and with each tooth prick these monsters strained, moaning and wailing like lovers they tousled every angry impulse, their claws leaving blood trails down the girl’s frail arm which crumbled under the slightest hint of a hug, that first knife of human contact, like wet paper pulling against dry air she would peel like grapefruit with no intention of comfort or pain and as the panic attack of his hand left her she tired, again, to breathe once more.