Stop Looking at Me by Miranda Roy
Nobody can know. Heart Beating. beating. Beating. You stare at me with unblinking eyes, lips planked, smug. My words stick in my throat—no wait, there are no words.
Or wait, maybe too many? The umbra behind my lids doesn’t bring me comfort. Everything gets so much worse. I am whipped around by a tornado. Stop! I need it to stop. My hands cover my ears to block the roar— sprawled on the floor, the shield fails. The whisking wind loots the life Gaia has given. My energy. My oxygen. I. Can’t. Breathe. Frost creeps up my back. That doesn’t make sense… I’m sweating. Buckets of icy rain. Poseidon drags me further and further into the sea. I’m drowning. So. Cold. Yet so warm. A fire! It hugs me. Shit, that’s not a hug. Liar. Hades’ wrath is fierce. Maybe drowning is better than burning alive. I open my eyes. Your gaze still pierces me. I remember Aristotle’s words, and clutch my diamond heart—my power— I breathe. Anyone can know.
NMC MAGAZINE
20
