Learning to Breathe

Learning to Breathe This story is my way of coping with past trauma, understanding my

pain, and learning to move forward. Names have been changed.

Everything here is what I can remember. Life began to feel normal,

whatever normal was supposed to mean. On the surface, things were calm.

Safe. But inside me, the past never stayed quiet. The memories followed

me everywhere. I hid from enemies that no longer existed, ghosts from the homes I had escaped

but never truly left behind. There were mornings when my mom and dad tried

to get me ready for school, and panic took over. I would crawl under