"I don't know what's wrong with me anymore.

Every time I breathe/ it feels like something inside me cracks a little more.

I keep telling myself I'm fine, that no one needs to worry, that I can hold it together...

but I can't.

I see the fire every time I close my eyes.

I hear their voices in the quiet.

I feel the weight of everything I couldn't save.

And I smile. I joke. I pretend.

Because if they knew what I really am underneath... they'd run.

They'd see the scars, the fear, the shaking, the part of me that never healed.

They'd see the monster I'm terrified I've become.

I don't want to break again.

I don't want to hurt anyone.

I don't want to be this thing that fear built out of me.

But I can't escape it.

It's inside me.

It's always been inside me.

And I don't know how much longer I can keep it quiet."