Shattered Light

I always thought there would be more time.
Time to be careless.
Time to fall in love without fear.
Time to grow into someone I could be proud of.
But growing up wasn't something that happened softly for me.
It happened all at once - like a house collapsing under the weight of a storm.
Depression crept in before I even understood what it was.
Anxiety wrapped itself around every word I never said.
Love touched me with hands that didn't stay.
Coming out felt less like flying and more like falling.
And then there was the diagnosis.
The final crack in a foundation that was already breaking.

Somewhere in all the wreckage, I kept breathing.
Somehow, even after everything, I kept looking for a way back to myself.

This isn't a story about hope, not exactly.
It's a story about remembering you once were young, and everything hurt, and somehow, you stayed alive anyway.