I Feel Like Something Coming Over Me

Exhausted to the bone. My muscles felt like noodles, twisted and torn, and in need of repair. It was a long journey of many miles, but I made it to safety. Across the border, I knew this new country would provide peace, that was my hope.

All I needed was a bath and some hot food. It had been cold for many months, but I trudged on with my aging mother. Sometimes I had to help her up in order for her to keep going. But I didn't feel lost. No. I found strength in that hope, in that search for something better, a future.

Our stay in our past home was much too long. We endured too much. We should have left and escaped much sooner, but we were afraid. Afraid of the unknown.

What we knew around us, where we had lived since I was a child was all too familiar. The market nearby, our once friendly neighbors--the community we once found connection and solace in. But since the invasion, that was all destroyed. The community we once knew had been dessimated.