About Face

They trick you with the highs so you do not see the lows coming, flashing sleighted hands in your eyes and then it's too late to turn when the drop-off arrives. You shouldn't have been speeding, to begin with. I tumble down the rabbit hole, my sleeves tearing on rocks and the dirt scraping its way into my bare skin, I am helpless in the fall. What did you think you were doing and the demons all laugh at their newfound freedoms. How long they were locked away and how gleeful they are to make up for time lost. The sun shines a beautiful melancholy smile while I pull strips of flesh from my arms; the pain is temporary relief, at best, a lifetime in crutches at least. There's a veil between us where there should be but clear skies; I yell through the gauze but my voice comes out mute. I know at some point I was doing the right thing, this road looks the same as the one I walked then but the trees whisper their disapproval, the path grows darker as it goes.

A stone lies in my stomach. Reminds me of burdens I only pretended weren't there. The sun sets over smiling faces.

You wonder if your reprieve is over.