Nihaw, at your service.

The older lady who saw me working the theater district and without a word slipped me a 20, SAVED MY LIFE

The nurse at the ER who refused to buy my bullshit story when I walked in and said I needed STD prophylaxis- she SAVED MY LIFE

The other victims I met while being trafficked, the older girl who told me, "shut the fuck up, don't posture like that," she SAVED MY LIFE

Even the young guy who was in with the traffickers, who got in over his head and snuck us oreos and cheez-its- he SAVED LIVES

The other survivors I've met in the aftermath who have listened and shared their wisdom- they've SAVED LIVES

You know who's never come close to saving my life? The cops. The court system. The Feds. Wider society as a whole, even. I've never been helped or cared for by these systems. I've been helped and cared for by PEOPLE. By regular human people who were all just doing their best.

More than it's ever haunted me that these awful systems and evil people exist, it haunts me that I'll never be able to thank any of those good people who've saved me. It haunts me that they'll never know how much of an impact they've made. The way I repay them is to try to bring that same energy into the world- and maybe do the same for others without even knowing it.

- sneezed wrong

- turned your neck a little too fast

- slept weird

- took the trash out to the curb and stepped at a slightly different angle than usual

- breathed

- failed to breathe properly

- breathed in the wrong stuff. Allergy time

- looked too hard at something too far away