1 minute read
Fear
Fear
The crouching boy hides in the corner; his legs shiver as the cold breeze passes over him.
Floorboards creek around the room as the dark, ominous shadows creep across the damp and dilapidated walls, growing ever darker. The boy spots these creatures of the darkness and shifts his weight, paranoid about what might happen if they come closer.
His eyes are bloodshot from days of no sleep, staying up and keeping watch in case anything pounces. The clothes on his back are more holes than cloth and are three sizes too small. This makes his chest cold to the touch, hard as stone, his lungs like heavy weights. Clouds of breath come out of his mouth in short wheezes; his throat croaks and aches with the pain of cold air, a constant strain on his lungs.
A cockroach crawls onto his bare feet, scavenging for food that is not there, food that has never been there for this malnourished boy.
The stockpile of preparation has been eaten and now all that is left is fear of starvation.
But that’s not the only fear of this boy. His whole world is filled with fear: fear of the shadows, fear of the cold, and the inevitable, ever-present fear of death.
