Mei
Lead feet and deflating balloons
There was a moment today when I walked through the empty house that my feet turned to lead and the breath was slowly pushed out of my lungs like a balloon deflating.
Metal in my veins and magnet in my palm
There was a moment today when someone was a no-show for a meeting that little static-like waves ran down my arms and my hands clenched as if there was metal in my veins and there was a magnet in the centre of my palm.
A wave of oil slithered from my shoulders
There was a moment today when I told a lie that a wave of oil slithered from my shoulders down my arms and down my back leaving behind a layer of grime.
My chocolate cupcakes
There was a moment today when I successfully baked chocolate cupcakes from my own recipe that a warm pulse started from my cheeks and spread to my chest where it curled into a fuzzy ball.
The nightmare
There was a moment today when I woke up and sat up that I registered a multitude of sensations.
Fuzzy black hands receded from the edges of my vision as the room came into focus.
Air hit the thin blanket of sweat and a shock shot up from the tips of my toes to the centre of my chest before exploding into a shiver and my toes curled.
Most peculiar was that my heart wasn’t racing; no thumping against the insides of my chest the way a prisoner bangs against the walls to escape.
It was a steady beat that released waves from my core to the tips of my fingers, my eyes, my ears and my nose and filled me with a determination to fight.
Losing
There was a moment today (when I lost) that liquid fire burst out of its spiky confines in my chest and rushed to my fists.
Some people hate running in winter. I love it.
There was a moment today when running down the road that the freezing air sucked into my lungs leaving a sharp then soothing trail down my throat and through my chest that my body absorbed and turned into fire in my veins. I felt alive.
Turning someone down
There was a moment today when I had to turn someone important down that I felt my heart turn to lead and sink to the bottom of my gut while weighted hands curled around my shoulders and pressed them down.
Just 5 more minutes…
There was a moment today when I was ignoring my morning alarm that I felt a warm, soft blanket of silk wrap around me and pull me tighter into a ball. Not even the sharp alarm, like a child poking the side of my head, could untangle me from the cozy ball I had become.
The invisible hands
There was a moment today – when I held my graphics tablet and pen, and was reminded that I’m not doing what I want to in life – those invisible fingers pulled my eyelids closed and hands reached into my chest to squeeze my heart.