Adolescence and Innocence

A creeping and crawling feeling of distress overtakes his trembling body

A feeling of discomfort overcomes as a seething spark is ignited

A fire rushes down his legs and a troubling scent fills his nostrils

A mix of colors is all that can be made out as the cloudiness clears his eyes

He sits up and immediately senses the danger lurking down the hall from him

The smell is pungent in his undeveloped palate as he kneels in prayer and pee

He silently wails at god for help pitifully adding tears to his urine soaked pajamas

A sound cuts through all else and is unmistakably echoing down the hallway

The once pungent smell slowly being masked by something no child should know

Tears fill up in his big eyes as reality sets in and the dark corner is creeping closer

The sound of steps bouncing off the walls in a rhythm akin only to that of war

A war within himself for the innocence that is being stripped day after day

The sound stops and for a minute he thinks that this is all just a terrible nightmare

The gold handle begins to turn and instinct tells him to pretend to be asleep

Shaking with eyes closed and fingers crossed he hides like a slave in the rafters

Steps are taken towards him and for a second the prayers seem to have come true

A light as if an angel from god himself was sent to rescue him from this hell shines

Time slows and his imagination begins to cover up what is happening around him

Colors fade and change with greys and blacks dim and bright in the room familiarly

A swing set takes shape and he envisions himself carelessly floating through space

Laughter fills his ears and a tiny smile takes form at the corner of his mouth

Then the terrible feeling in his chest as he sees the room spinning in front of him

Flying across the space bouncing off of objects in the room he feels nothing

The pain starts to set in after the third or fourth strike, he’s callused from experience