this was the last straw.
no longer did i feel human,
no longer did i feel alive,
no longer did i want to be alive.
this is how it ends.

the frantic breathing,
the sweaty palms,
the pit in my stomach;
this had all been felt before,
but i never did it.

the last straw was his touch.
his claws dug into my skin,
his deathly stare burned into my eyes,
his sharp teeth pierced through my stomach.
the man i had married turned into a lion.
his malicious actions scarred me,
both inside and out.

the last straw was his roars.
my eardrums burst at the sound of them.

i could no longer handle this world,
my family was gone.
he caged me away and named me Belle,
but he is no beast;
he is a monster.

i grabbed what he calls his medicine,
with no hesitation, i pour half of it
in my mouth.
i cannot decipher if the swallowing
or the bruises hurt more.

i did not belong;
in this life,
in this world
in this universe.

my death will show him.
he will finally love me again.
he will regret driving me to this point.
i still love him.

the rest was a blur.

i wake up in a hospital room with a tube down my throat.

hours later,
my feline husband is there, stroking my hair.

“my love,” he says,
“my love, why would you do this?”

flows of salty water stream down my face,
everything is blurry from tears.

i suppose that is why i didn’t realize
the pillow covering my face.
and that was when the world stopped spinning.