You wake in a cold sweat

shaking, you push yourself to stand

slow steady steps to the bathroom

the light flickers on

In the mirror you see a shell

of who you used to be

What happened to me?

you ponder, staring deeply

at your exhausted frame

Pills are taken from the granite counter

water and white capsules slide down your throat

lurching back to the bed, you rest your head

and close your eyes to sleep once more…

A voice wakes you up suddenly

from somewhere in your room

jumping out of the bed

you run to grab your baseball bat

and you can’t see shit

“Come out and fight!”

you scream into the abyss

as a shadow runs across the ceiling

so you swing the bat, and miss, start running

outside the door where you almost trip

this isn’t your apartment

you realize as you slip

onto the ground of a spooky forest

The bat is gone and you stand alone

but a figure appears before you

it seems to spawn

masked, and dangerous it points a finger

right at your chest

Running again you take off

heart racing, trees in your wake

you take a peek behind to see

you don’t know how much it will take

to lose the ghost and get home safe

Turning around you gasp

your eyes widen in fear

the figure is there, and it stabs

the knife deep into your heart

and whispers, “Stop running”

You wake in a cold sweat

shaking, you push yourself to stand

slow steady steps to the bathroom

the light flickers on

In the mirror you see the masked man

who you turned out to be

pills are taken from the granite counter

flushed down the toilet, spinning turbulently

No more running

you decide, as you remove the mask

and face who you truly are