My father’s screams get louder as my mother scrambles to help his pain.

I can’t take the sound of my big strong father in agony, and I cover my ears.

It doesn’t help.

 

My heart races as panic rises within me.

I’m afraid to leave my bed but I gather the courage and run to my closet.

It is my safe place.

 

I close the door quietly behind me and the sounds beyond become muted.

My breathing calms and my heart returns to its normal rhythm.

I am safe here.

 

There are no monsters inside my closet because those are all beyond its door.

No one looks for me when I hide here, no one cares.

I am safe here.

 

Eventually, I hear my parents leaving for, I assume, the hospital.

They have forgotten I exist, which is sometimes for the best I have learned.

I am safe here.

 

In the morning I will get up, get dressed, feed myself, and wait for someone to come.

Eventually, they will send someone for me.

Until then I will be safe within my closet.

 

– Diana Kristine