Left Right
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Left.
Right.
Left.
Right.
Don’t look back.
It was 3:17 last time you checked your watch,
but that was three blocks ago.
You’re running, and running.
And the only sounds you hear are the sounds of the somehow busy road next to you,
even at this crazy hour,
the constant smacking of your worn out shoes against the pavement
and your rapidly thumping heart.
You’re on ninth street and you’ve been running since eighteenth,
nine blocks and it’s still not far enough.
Too close.
Too close.
Don’t look at me.
Don’t look that close.
Your eyes are blurry and lungs are aching.
Lights are flashing and the rain begins to fall,
the tattered cloth that makes up your hoodie clings uselessly to your limbs
If you run long enough the words will disappear and you’ll forget about the way his voice sounded.
He isn’t worth this.
He isn’t worth this.
This is your chant as you near sixth..Just a few more blocks, a few more lousy blocks. Maybe it’ll be enough.
You glance up at a cheaply lit bank clock,
your eyes try to make out the digits.
3:42. Don’t look back.
Your feet are hurting,
and you’re feeling light headed.
Trip.
Stumble.
Fall.
You’re falling, and you’re falling,
You’re sliding
grinding
bleeding
crying.
You’re a broken boy, sprawled out across the pavement.
the rain washes over you as you pant heavily.
Mask shatters.
Don’t look at what I am.
You’re a broken boy with no one left to fix you.
I trust you…
Liar! You scream, your voice raspy with desperation and pain. Liar! Liar!
Don’t.
Look.
Back.
Lean ing on all fours, your hands are scraped and bleeding, your blood being quickly rinsed away by the rain.
This isn’t how it was supposed to be.
It was supposed to be different.
He was supposed to be different.
He was supposed to accept the mask.
You glance to your watch once more,
Your watch screams at you 3:19
And you’re miserably confused.
Shakily you rise to your feet again,
drowsy and weak from running.
You stumble again,
bracing yourself against the wall of the building next to you.
The tears keep coming,
mixing themselves with the raindrops that keep finding themselves on your cheeks.
I trust you.
Read: What are you hiding?