Things get harder and harder to pretend normalcy. I feel surrounded by those waiting to take a bite out of me. They smile with big white teeth. I look past their pupils into the whites of their eyes and make pretend eye contact there in the white nothing. And this is how it will be now. I will no longer be me, cannot be me, must never be me. I must appear sincere and concerned, but cannot let my heart be touched. And above all I must never, never like them. If I like them, if I want them to like me, I will be exposed, a heart beating red and wet, with my ribcage opened and pulled away. I must never forget what is behind those smiling white teeth.
Advertisement
