I curl up in that little space, trying to keep my breathing quiet. My heart is going so fast I shake with it. Surely everyone can hear it? I watch the feet shuffling around my room. She walks away.

There is a monster under my bed, I think. One that makes me invisible even in the brightest colours and silent even if I scream my loudest.

It muffles the outside world to me and blinds it too. I think it’s a nice monster, but sometimes I don’t want to be hidden, I have to run from it as fast as I can. Doing everything against its wishes until that silent part of me is gone. Replaced. I fight with fists and shouts till that timid bit of me is too scared to exist. But then I go home. And bold, angry me is the one too scared to exist. The monster comes back. It silences me.

Doesn’t make much sense, but hey ho