Up All Night

Here's a piece I wrote last week in my Write Around Portland Writing Group. We've met twice now and it's held out at the Quest Center on Burnside/29th. It's an interesting blend of ladies who are battling cancer, HIV, mental illness and addiction. They all write so incredibly. This session is a ten week session again. I've missed writing like this so much. It's so nice to have time again, to make time. My writing is usually dark, but it's how I deal with things. Things I can't say to my family and friends. Things that might scare them if coming from my mouth out loud. It gives me a safe place to dump my worries and exorcise my demons.

Last week's writing prompt: "Up All Night" or as I titled it,

"An Univited Guest" or do you like "Sleeping with the Enemy" better?
by Shauna Berglund Immel

Night falls.
The house falls silent.
I am alone.
Quiet.
Still.
With no distractions.
Only my thoughts and the sound of my breath.

This is the point at which fear finds me.
An unwanted and unwelcome guest
Who slips into my bed uninvited and breaks the silence.
Filling my head with insecurities, sorrow and dread.
He haunts my thoughts like a ghost.
Terrorizing me and inflicting unimaginable emotional pain.

You know that pain.

The kind that you feel deep in your heart
Down to the very core.
The very essence and being of your soul.
The kind that makes your heart skip a beat.
The kind that takes your breath away.
The kind that scares you so badly,
you break down in heavy,
gut wrenching sobs
that leave your sides aching
and your pillow soaked.

You don't want night to come.
You are afraid of what it brings.
You want to stretch the day out
as long as you can.

To get as much living in as possible.
To get as much done as you possibly can.
To tie up loose ends.
To work on unfinished business.

In case tomorrow doesn't come
to rescue you from the darkness.

To avoid having to lay down next to fear,
Who often stays all night long.