It crept into my life slowly. Day by day, week by week, year by year. I didn't notice until it had almost overtaken my consciousness. Like my childhood fear of the monster under the bed, a hidden terror come to steal my soul, except this threat was real. It became a shadow of my existence, and everywhere I turned, there it was. I couldn't get away when it first became apparent to me, and even now, I am its prisoner. A slave to its every whim, bound by a contract I never signed, never wanted.
All children are taught to fear it. That's why we always stuck together on the playground, never ventured into the unknown without another by our side. That was the only way we knew to keep it away. It evolved, though. We grew up, and it learned all our tricks, found new ways to seep into our minds. A candy bar here, a movie there, a lunch date tossed in between. It taught us to become wary of our friends, to smile through the doubt, to look beyond what only our eyes could see. It twisted and warped our reality until our worst nightmares were more than just ugly dreams - they were the truth.
It had no mercy.
It was loneliness.
YOU ARE READING
L is for Lonely
PoetryA collection of poems and vignettes from a lonely girl's life.
