when the lights go out, i am swallowed by nothingness. it settles like a blanket over me — but it is heavy.
the world becomes gaps and blanks. my mind fills them. it paints them with my worst fears: murderers, monsters, you. you come alive in the dark. you lurk in the corners, waiting for the moment i blink.
but the images don’t move. they are stagnant- still, yet smothering, seeping into skin and squeezing the breath from my chest.
i say i’m scared of the dark, but truly, i fear the corners of my mind and what they birth when i’m alone long enough to let them speak.