Kiana

Power interruptions have plagued our region for a while now, but it’s only recently that these little annoyances have got into my nerves. See, these power interruptions happen at random. Sometimes there are nights when the lights go out at a specific time, and this goes on for two, three consecutive days, urging me to think they’ve already scheduled the power outages. But no, these power interruptions are out to get me.

During these times, the only thing to hear is the beating of my heart, and loneliness is my only friend. It’s inescapable, which is why maybe I hate it. Other times, I go out to run at a nearby park, just to take my mind off my body, even for a while. To not think of anything besides muscles straining and lungs heaving to keep up, keep up, keep up with my mind’s willingness to push through the next curve, and the next. Until I reach a mindlessness, a space in my psyche where I can exist and breathe, exist and breathe, exist and breathe—nothing more or less.

This perpetual loneliness is haunting—although it may sometimes manifest itself as a curse, I hold it as a talisman, sacred. Right here, in this solitary space, I declare it holy. ♦