When the Wolf Comes Home

by Nat Cassidy

Fucking grief. Fucking stupid, unpredictable, illogical, unhelpful grief.

Life can change in an instant. Especially with a little force. Especially if you’re not afraid.

All the ways fear has shaped her life. Fear of rejection. Fear of failure. Fear of not being lovable. Fear of not being enough. The shitty situations she’s accepted because that’s less scary than doing something about it.

Is that possible? To live in this world and not scare yourself to death? To feel turbulence and not imagine the plane going down? To experience hope as a grown-up with the same clarity a child feels terror? How do you not call forth the things that will devour you and give them teeth? How do you protect? Especially when the danger is you?