#winterbrook

And what is growing up if not being fearful of the future, but running head on into it anyway?

I am still afraid, but I barrel into fate with gritted teeth. Every experience brings a lesson, every passing day and night just a page turned in my story.

I’ll break the sound barrier. I will be heard. I will explore every inch of myself. I’ll draw a map, mark every part as my favorite, find the buried treasure hidden behind my ribcage.

I made it a life mission to make myself the only home I needed. To dip into my center and rip out burning light, to illuminate the way for my young feet to walk.

I was a storm shelter, built to shield my gentle heart away from hatred.

It may have poured but I stood tall.

I couldn’t imagine yearning for anything less. To be brave in the face of despair. To bite without a warning bark. To grow into my power not as a lapping wave, but a tsunami. To engulf whatever stood in my path.

I had the grandest of dreams when it came to who I wanted to become.