You’ve got to be kidding me.

I crunch down on the words I’ve just heard
And try to shallow them
But I choke
It’s just too much
My breathing comes in rapid gasps

I squint through a puddle
Of salty, steaming tears
I bite my lip hard
Warm blood begins to wind its way
Down my chin
And drip onto the white carpet

I sprint outside
The door clashes behind me
I yelp like a dying gazelle
The hard barrier of fence before me
A climbing contest I know I can’t win
I spot a nail and grab it
My hand jerks away
Flaming
I charge through the wood
Splinters dig into my skin
Hurtling myself beyond this evil world
I thud onto the other side of the wall,
My back smashes into soil
With an explosion of dust
I lay paralyzed for a few seconds
But am soon running again
Leaving my destruction behind me
But the destruction she left behind can never be forgiven

The dry golden weeds
Wrap and knot themselves
Around my raw red ankles
Winds shrieks into my ear
Invading my brain with one message
I will never forgive her
I surge faster
As I glance into the grumpy, grey sky
I see a soldier against the wind
An eagle, streaming like a jet
With its teasing gaze
From its pale yellow eye
It challenges me to beat it
And I crush innocent pebbles as I race
But the eagle is winning.

I stop as it rushes past on the breeze
And flop into the mud
Realization sucks the air from my lungs like a vacuum
I can’t defeat the eagle.
I can’t defeat the power of her lies, either.
So I just have to let the wind take me
Like the eagle when it swirls through the skies

As I stand up, I search for my savior
But all I can see is the clouds
Which now look a bit more encouraging and bright
The sky is actually more of a sapphire blue then gray
And the grass looks waves to cheer me on,
Instead of weighing me down
I know the thing that drives the eagle.
It is unbreakable determination.
So I let that thought lift my mud-splattered sneaker

And take my first step toward a better life.