Today and everyday, you feel like a lion after a fruitless chase. Your love lost and future tarnished. A long, tiring day at work. You are just plain exhausted. So why not? What more can you do? Picking up the toxic liquid, you take a swig. You deserve it. Liquid like antifreeze running through your stressed and pumping veins. Ahh… the glacial wave rushes through you. Mmm… refreshing.

Today and everyday, you slosh the venomous fluid down your now worn throat. Getting a little tipsy, your worries float like bubbles out into the atmosphere. You look the same to me, just a little happier. You are not growling like a lion; not hissing like a snake. But purring like a sweet, little kitty. Meow…Your bubbles of worries have been taken by the wind. But bubbles have to pop sometime.

Today and everyday, you and I think, one more will be fine. No harm done. You will just purr more. But like a baby taking his first steps, you tumble along zigzagging off to nowhere. One, two, three, four, too many too count. Glug, gulp, slurp… You knock back your so called ‘pick-me-ups’. Words tumble aimlessly from your lips; both bad and good. Anger brews beneath you. One dirty dish, one snippet of bickering words between siblings, one undid chore, and like a volcano, you explode. Your bubbles have popped. That purring kitty that I loved so much has grown into a blood-thirsty lion. A lion with mangled fur, sharp, shredding claws, and menacing teeth. No longer a Simba. And I, like Timon, cower and hide. Not saying a word.

Today and everyday, I watch from the sidelines. The ball being kicked right at my face. But do I blow the whistle? No. All I can do is watch and let happen. My lips have been zippered shut. My legs cemented and unable to run. What can I do? Thoughts come to mind, but then I back down. Words cannot convey how I feel. Emotions run through my veins like alcohol runs through yours. Crushing your brain, crushing your organs, but more importantly crushing your life. You and me. Me and You. Gone with the tip of a glass. Why is it so easy?

Today and everyday, the world around you becomes more and more foreign. Your family and friends. Your neighbors and coworkers. All are repeating what they have said before. But you do not remember. Unfazed, the world around you unwinds like a ball of yarn and you are the playful kitty that pushes it around. Unlike a Polaroid, the more you shake it, the fuzzier it gets. Life passes you by. We try to turn the green light red, but you just do not care. You are not the only one going through this. We are right by your side. But do you feel how we feel? Miserable and trying? Will you stop? Unlikely.

Today is the day. I, a strong gust of wind, whistle past you. Just a passing breeze. Nothing to worry about. But today is the day. I blow like a tornado; whipping stones and uprooted grass past your bloodshot, stunned face. Then the storm comes. Tears like fat rain drops fall from my clouding eyes. Thunder pounds from my lips. The storm ends, but no rainbow appears. No pot of gold for you. Only a feeling of guilt and loneliness; that’s your prize. Now that I’m gone will you finally realize your mistake? Maybe.

Tomorrow and the next day, your aching heart will try to patch up the quilt work of emotions running through you. You will reach for the bottle. Wait. Crash. The toxic liquid that made me leave will spill on the hearty kitchen tile. You are done. No more pain; for you or the world around you. We have lost too much already. Was that all it really took? My absence? If I would have known, I would have fled like an ambulance on its’ way to a murder scene out of that house. But it’s too late now. Let’s just be happy the toxic storm has passed.