You wake up another morning feeling as if you still haven’t caught your breath from the night before. Your heart races as you see daylight peeking through the blinds, dreading that you’re forced to face another day. All the different ways today could go wrong dance through your mind, causing your hands to tremble.

Despite just having woken up, you already feel exhausted and want nothing more for the sky to darken once more so you can crawl back into your barrier of blankets and hide from this Hell.

You make your way to the bathroom, feeling like a ghost lurking through the hallway. Looking in the mirror, you see instead of being a spirit you are a skeleton, seeping through your own skin. You look even thinner today, which makes you happy... for the less of you there is in the world, the less you have to worry.

The water sputters from the head of the shower, and you quickly get in, anxious for your iced skin to feel familiar with warmth once more. You don’t stand long, your joints aching from exhaustion, so you sink into the bath that you would rather drown in than crawl out of.

You sit mindlessly in the shower until the water grows colder than the snow that sits outside, the only motivation you have to slump out of the safety of your swamp.

You skip breakfast, your stomach swirled into knots, and head for your car with your books on your back. The windy country road and the blaring beat music distract your thoughts, and for the first time today, you are able to gasp for a breath.