Useful Until I Collapsed

I was 17 working two jobs when I collapsed in the freezer aisle at work.

My boss told me to take a day off. I laughed because a day off meant no rent money.

I'd been doing bakery shifts at 4am and warehouse work till midnight for months. Mum called it good

discipline. Dad said nothing as long as bills got paid. The shaking hands

started first. Then nosebleeds. Then falling asleep standing up. I hid everything

with Panadol and coffee because stopping wasn't an option. Eventually I stopped eating,

not by choice but because I genuinely forgot. My body was running on fumes and muscle

memory. Wake, work, work, sleep,