The Scream Cracking the Shell Open

The morning light is harsh today, exposing the gap between the face you put on and the terror rising in your chest. You walk through the day performing okayness, smiling at the right moments, while inside, your own heartbeat sounds like the beginning of a scream.

It feels as if the noise is too loud to hide, as if everyone can hear the fracture beneath your skin. But there is a light that sees behind the mask without demanding you take it off yet.

It knows the performance is just a way to survive the hour. This light does not ask you to stop shaking; it simply sits with you in the noise.

The scream you fear is not the end of your story; it is the sound of the shell cracking open to let the life out.