EavesDropping

I gasped.

My chest tightened, each breath shallow and painful.

The tears had dried on my cheeks, but the ache in my heart had only grown worse.

My hands clawed at the sheets as I tried to steady myself, but the heaviness of my memories made it impossible.

I couldn’t breathe.

I clawed at my chest but it was impossible.

Panic surged through me, sharp and unrelenting, as though invisible hands were squeezing the air from my lungs.

I stumbled off the bed, my legs trembling beneath me.

The room felt too small, the walls pressing in on me, it felt as if they were squeezing me in.

I staggered to the door, wrenching it open, and rushed into the hallway.

My bare feet padded against the cold stone floor as I searched desperately for an escape, any place where I could breathe again.

My vision blurred with fresh tears, but I kept moving, driven by the overwhelming need for air.

A balcony.

The double doors stood at the end of the corridor, the moonlight spilling through the gla