By Celia Aurora de Blas

I feel skinned.

That’s the only way I know how to describe the feeling.
Filleted open and at the mercy of the unknown.

I feel jittery like my teeth would start chattering as if I were cold,

but it’s not so much an external experience — so no sound.

It’s because this doorway in the floor has opened up — like things got real and I’ve landed in this dark basement that has no floor — though I’m standing on something — what?

I can’t reach the doorway above me to crawl back up to the safety of the surface, so I stand here: skin pink and open and vulnerable to the vast nothingness that is the space between hearts, when they’ve met for real.

My only choice is to wait and see what happens in this dark, raw, place… Do what you will.

Whatever it is is better than a pretend smile and Hallmark words of support.

I see you and you see me.
We are acknowledged.
And that’s a real beginning.

Celia is the creator of Incredible Girl.

For more self-study, The Urban Howl recommends Milk and Honey.

#WAIT

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