This too shall pass.
I could feel myself falling deeper and deeper into our green couch — it were as if it were about to swallow me whole. I was clenching my jaw to control my emotions. But all I wanted was to feel nothing and disappear into the cushions. I could feel every one of my muscles under tension. The tightness in my chest grew deeper — as if I forgot how to breathe. The backs of my eyes were beginning to hurt. I could feel the whole world tightening around me. I felt smaller and smaller. Then I felt a damp nudge pushing its way into my armpit. The sweet boy, Forrest, was pushing his nose into me and looking up at me with his little chicken nugget eyes. It was as if he was asking me, “are you okay?” My body exhaled. I felt the couch beneath me again and my fingers moved to scratch behind his ear.
I am okay. This too shall pass. And I took a deep breath and, with buoyancy, got up from the couch and step back into the day.
Written By: Liza Giles