Howl

by Shaun David Hutchinson

Sometimes to get the things we want, we’ve got to endure things we don’t.

They weren’t visible to anyone else, but I was bleeding from them all the same, and I wasn’t sure how much more blood I could lose.

“You’re not a monster.” “But how do you know?” “Because, Virgil, monsters don’t ask themselves if they’re monsters.”

I could’ve wandered through the semester alone, but I’d found someone willing to get a little lost with me.

I could tell him that trauma has gravity that will constantly try to tug you backward, but that if you keep moving forward, eventually its hold will weaken.