a heavy heartbeat
pushes against weak lungs,
creating a rhythm filled only with
fear,
sadness,
and anger
all at once.

trembling hands
press against anxious thighs
hoping to hide from the rest of the world.

it becomes harder to breathe,
harder to see,
harder to hear—

to ask for help,
though it is something i need,
it is not something i want.

my vision is blurry now.

i stare down at my hands,
hiding my face with the hair
that cascades along my shoulders—

the world outside is happy,
rotating at a fast pace
without a single care.

they say time stops for nobody,
it waits for no one,
and will continue on whether or not
you want it to.

in this case,
i desperately wait for time to stop,
for everything to go black.

everyone feels just as far away
as i remember.

only now
i, too, am far away
from myself.

and both figures of me
are nowhere near the others.

we do not reach out,
we do not scream,
we only cry
and hope that time
runs out faster.

until the day arrives,
when our clock
finally reaches
zero.