Fear. Fear. Fear. Looming always under the thinly veiled surface. Quick witted and sharp tongued, it feeds my insecurity. Hissing violent insults and harsh fantasies of a lonely and hated existence.

Illusions of grandeur come crashing down, exactly where they belong, in a smoldering pile at your feet. You look around you and see that your worst fears have come true. You’re completely alone with only the cold comfort of fear wrapping itself tightly around you, bone chilling and unforgiving. As if Satan himself orchestrated the whole affair.

Victory. Victory. Victory. It repeats, hissing and spitting in your ear. You fall to your knees, your head hanging as sweat and tears gently roll down your cheeks, scorching the burnt ground beneath you as it falls. And for the first time, you think “This is it.” There is nothing left to give, no more fight to muster, no more reasons to get back up.