The city is different, its character altered.
Corner streets once steeped in imagination, now inhabited by another generation.

The hazy sun, temperature passing one hundred and one.

That park in my neighborhood, cloud watching with a friend, pointing out characters in the sky, conversation drifting along the highlands.

Fresh cut grass grounding, problems so far away.

How could I have known what heaviness would come, unexpected and unannounced?

What do you do when terror strikes, horrid tendrils slithering into your mind, taking root, burrowing deep?

I am no physician, unable to heal myself.

Teenage angst turned desperation, to thrive and remain alive.

Stability, once easily cast into the unknown without hesitation, now coveted fiercely.

Milestones were not measured with numbers or achievements. Every new experience was cherished, humanity befriended with affectionate invitation.

Could I go back, reverse the steps? Slow the ever increasing speed?

Tomorrow comes too soon.