Free Write

It had happened so long ago but the emotions were as raw as a fresh slab of meat straight from the butcher's block. I hadn't thought about it for quite some time, in fact I tried never to think about it. Whenever the images crept into my head I would hum songs from my childhood that took me back to a time when I didn't know fear or shame. However, this time the memories did not creep or crawl into my mind like they normally do; they simply slammed into me and knocked me over like a freight train going a million miles an hour.

Breathe. Please just breathe. It's all I could do to keep my composure. In and out, in and out the steady rhythm of my breaths calmed me to some degree. My body on the other hand was as stiff as a cadaver on ice and the breathing didn't seem to help loosen me any. Breathe. In and out. In and out. Slowly, each muscle released and relaxed and finally I felt the fear and shame slowly drain out of me with each breath I exhaled. But there...right there in the forefront of my mind were the memories I had been hiding from for nearly 10 years. No longer could I banish them to the dark abyss of my mind. No longer could I run. No longer could I hide. No longer.