HIGHLIGHT

Ghosts of the past live there. They live in that house. They haunt my dreams and my thoughts. They remind me of those days, the good and the bad ones. They bring me back to moments and memories I would rather not remember. They force my head into a toilet bowl full of hurt, pain, and what I would sometimes classify as abuse. They whisper sweet nothings into my ear, constant reminders of the yelling and throwing, the arguments and tears. They will never let me forget. And who knows if they will ever let me forgive. I f I am lucky, they will dig up the few good memories I have from that house and present them to me as a treat for my suffering. I am rarely ever that lucky. ghosts of the past live there. They live in that house. Tey live in me.

Ghosts of the past live there. They haunt my dreams and my thoughts. They make me relive all the hurt and trauma I have endured in my twenty-one years of life. They put those terrizing memories on teh record player, and they keep their pesky little ghost fingers on the replay button, no matter where and no matter when. The ghosts make it hard for me to forget what I have been through. And they make it even harder for me to forgive those who have hurt me. But they are my ghosts. They are not another set of villains in my underdog story or what I hope will one day be an epic hero story. They are victims, just like me, and they will be the underdogs with me. None of us asked for this. We never asked to be hurt like this, to be scarred and traumatized by all of it. We never asked for the resulting anxiety, depression, or suicidal thoughts. We never asked for or wanted any of this horror, but we got it. We are all that we have, me and my ghosts. We were thrown headfirst into life, and all we can do now is swim, adapt to our ever-changing surroundings, and learn from our near-death experiences. I hope and pray that it will get a little better someday. but for now, it is just me and my ghosts. They live in that house. They live in me and with me, and they are mine. They are my ghosts.