• The rain poured outside of my window - her gentle footfalls against the window pane reminded me of when I was younger and I would sit on my grandfather's lap while he told me stories about his past, when he was a boy. The fire would crackle, the flames would dance and lick the hearth with ease. Those were the days where innocence was tangible - where I could go to sleep at night, and the biggest worry I had was whether there was a monster under my bed, waiting to gobble me up with its vicious teeth.

    Not whether or not I had become a monster, myself.


    A soft sigh escaped between my lips, the sound almost startled me from my reverie - almost. Instead it just reminded me of the sound of Summer: the gentle wind as she flew on invisible wings through the tree-limbs - causing the trees to dance to her gentle melody. Some nights, the gentle wind was gentle no more as her voice escalated in a fury only matched by that of a mad woman. Her shrieks as she ripped past the house, her snarls as tree limbs snapped under her relentless wrath...

    These reminded me of the demons who had now taken residence within my mind.


    "What have I become?" I asked the darkness softly, my soprano voice was slightly husky; it was the first time I had spoken in days. "Who am I?" Was it so insane to expect a response from those white walls that surrounded me? I did not want praise, I did not want kindness... Just companionship - unbiased, truthful, companionship. Something I found rarely in this world today.