It’s always there. Five foot four, brown hair, brown eyes, just following me. Never getting too close, but always close enough to make its presence known.
    This has been happening for years now. This monster, following me, watching and judging and preying on my every move.
    It torments me. Constantly degrading me. Always. There.
    It leaves me notes. Cruel scribbled handwriting on a small piece of paper. It gives me looks. Expressions of disappointment and disapproval. It speaks to me. Never kindly, always yelling. It is always pushing me past my limits. Always begging me to be better.
“You’re never good enough. You never will be good enough. Do more. No, now you're annoying, do less. Stop that! No wait, you were doing something good, why did you stop?  Stop talking, you said too much. Hey, why are you so quiet, speak up! Idiot! Can’t you ever do anything right?”
Those sentences echo in my brain.
This torture continues for some time. Constant and consistent, never ceasing except during few moments of sleep or peace.
There comes a point when you’ve had enough. When you recognize that you are enough. I recognized that. This monster has got to go.
I begin to fight. In all honesty, it is not easy. Fighting this monster that is seemingly against my entire existence.
    I yell back. I tear the notes to shreds. I run. I run so fast and so far that there is no way it could ever catch me. Somehow it always does. It never leaves my sight. Sleep is my only refuge. It is slowly taking that from me too, filling my dreams. I wake and I feel its presence.
I push it away, it always comes back. Then one day, it disappears.
    What’s that? Silence? Is that the sweet sound of nothing that I hear? No words telling me that I am not good enough, no notes left in places that only I will find them, no monster following my every move.
    It’s peaceful. Time is passing, seasons turning. I am happy; a true, genuine, and pure happiness is flowing in my veins.
    It’s raining outside. I decide to go for a walk. I have always loved the rain. Its soft patter, crisp scent, and calming nature soothes me. The streets are empty. It’s just me and the world.
Dancing down the cobblestones, I freeze in my tracks. I hear footsteps approaching. It’s back. I know its sound like the back of my hand. I turn around. There’s nothing there.