Chapter 12 of 23

Shattered Glass, Silent Screams

Ruins of What They Took From Me207 words~2 min read

The bottle never asks questions,

just sits there, patient,

waiting for me to reach for it.

It doesn't care if I'm drowning,

if my hands shake or my heart's cracked—

it only cares if I'm numb enough

to forget the fire behind my eyes.

Each sip is a soft surrender,

a promise to erase

the jagged edges of my skin,

the scars I wear like old friends.

But the burn doesn't heal anything,

it just makes the silence louder.

My body's a map of mistakes,

each cut a line I thought would set me free,

but freedom never comes in blood,

only in the cold sting that fades too quickly.

I reach for the glass again,

wondering why nothing ever feels

like enough.

I've lost pieces of myself in the dark,

buried them where no one will find them,

but they still whisper,

and they still hurt.

I can't outrun them,

but I can drown them for a while—

with alcohol in my veins,

and glass in my hands.

Maybe one day I'll find a way to stop.

Maybe one day the pieces will heal.

But for now,

I'll keep reaching for the bottle,

keep carving away the parts of me

I don't know how to love.