The souls were in the basement. Well not all of them, one of the souls was in my head: the strongest one, the smartest one, the best. Have you ever wondered about those moments, the vulnerable ones where you meet someone new, maybe someone important or a friend of a friend? That moment when you open up your mouth and something you’ve never said before comes out of it? Those are the moments when the basement souls are in the elevator, desperately trying to get out of the dark. In my world life isn’t the “you are who you are” kind of thing. Life is a complex maze full of obstacles and changes, carving new paths everyday. Your not just one abiding person your whole life. Yes it’s true that people change, but this is different, this is like losing the essence of who you are, or actually, of who you used to be. You see everybody’s souls are fighting, pushing and shoving for control, trying to be the boss. But one is always the strongest. The biggest. The fastest. They call that soul your “essence.” But sometimes your essence gets confused or is lost in the moment. That’s when the others attack. The other souls, the ones starving to see the light. When your feeling awkward or out of touch, that’s their chance. So when you’re sitting in a room with your new step-sibling or your brother’s best friend, both of you pretending to have an enrapturing fascination with the light fixture, that’s when the forgotten ones began to feed. Suddenly you say “Want to play a game?” or “How’s your day going?” both of which sound nothing like you. Your mind is on red alert, screaming of the coming danger. You hear the sirens, but your helpless to do anything because your soul is no longer your soul. You can feel it, a new soul taking over, melting away your memories, your secrets, leaving you an empty shell. And when your step-sibling says “I’d love to play a game,” you forget all about your un-coordinated anti-social self, because that’s not you anymore. Your now the girl that can leap into the air, knowing that you’ll catch the ball, knowing that who you once were, is gone.