every bone in my body aches. i’ve spent days propped up on this wall hardly able to move. the one time i decide to venture back out. the one time. and it was by you. my own blood. the people who raised me. after the two of you beat me to a near inch of my life, i remember why i left. why i ran to this place i now call home and have for the last 10 years. i never thought i’d see you again. the only memories i have of the both of you are so horrendous i try to block them out. i’ve done pretty well for the past decade. seeing you again brought each and every one of them back. memories of father beating me while mother watched and laughed. and laid his hand on me in a way i should not have known for 6 years old. memories of the days you left me to starve as punishment. or you were too high or slumped over wasted to even try to feed me. sometimes it was hard to tell the two apart. as much as i hate you, i can still find it in myself to forgive you. i’ve learned that hatred is a very powerful and draining emotion. surviving now without you is much easier than surviving with you. the two scenarios are very similar but now i avoid beatings and starvation. out of the decade i’ve been gone, i’ve only had people with me for the past five. they have shown me what a family should be. loving. kind. gentle. patient. full of laughter. and warm conversations. i still don’t know what to do with it sometimes. but i’m happy. i finally feel safe. despite the beating you both laid upon me three days ago when i decided to enter the town in which i grew up. i was hoping you’d have moved on by now. you always said you would. i was shocked to see the both of you again. and terribly frightened. but i suppose fear is normal when your parents are the town’s only executioners.