The Sudden Appearance of Hope

by Claire North

“Thought is feedback,” I said, and her eyes rose to me, though her head did not turn. “Social anxiety triggers a physiological alarm. The physical reinforces the social. Through very few cycles, we may become convinced of fallacies. That we are afraid of people. That we are worthless.

“It is worthy to live,” she corrected, “when the alternative is to die. Life is precious.”

fuck you world if you think you can do this to me, fuck you if you think I don’t know how to fight back, if you think I’ll just roll over and die,

am memory; I am the sum of my memories. I am the sum of my deeds. I am thoughts for the future. Compilations from the past. I am this moment. I am now.