Age 10
I went to sleep across the hall, eyelids heavy and dreams in my brain.
While across the hall my mum was murdered in her sleep

Age 11
I never slept

Age 12
Learned to sleep again

Age 13
Learned to be suspicious of every sound I heard, the creek of a stair keeping me awake till dawn

Age 14
Thought of all escape routes from the room for when they came back

Age 15
Thought of all the ways to **** a man with my school grade scissors

Summer of 16
I spent hours trying to lift things with my mind, trying to control the breeze with a flip of my hand and each night I prayed tomorrow would be the day that I found my superpower.

Do you want to know why it was so incredible because I learnt to smile again because for the first time my thoughts going to sleep weren't about how I was going to die but about how I was going to live.