The Day the Sunlight Dimmed

It was one of those days that looked perfect from the outside 

Sunlight spilling softly on the streets,

The kind of warmth that feels borrowed from a dream.

You were beside me,

Your laughter brushing against the breeze,

And i swear, in that moment,

The world felt gentle again.

I smiled without trying.

Every small thing,

The way your eyes curved when you laughed,

The way your hand brushed mine,

It made me forget everything that ever hurt.

For a second, i thought maybe i was healing.

But then something in me shifted.

Like a curtain falling in the middle of a bright room.

My mind went quiet,

Too quiet.

The smile faded before i even realized it.

And there you were,

Kneeling down, petting a stray cat,

So full of light

While i felt the ground open beneath me.

I couldn’t speak.

I couldn’t even look at you.

The world blurred at the edges,

And all i could feel was this slow, aching pull,

Like the earth was swallowing me whole,

Like i was disappearing from the inside out.

My heart slowed,

And my thoughts began to hum the same old song,

The one that says maybe it’s easier not to stay.

I didn’t want to hurt you.

God, i didn’t. That was the last thing i wanted,

But the words fell out anyway.

I told you the darkness,

The part of me that wants to vanish

When everything starts to feel too heavy to hold.

You didn’t run.

You didn’t look away.

You just stayed.

And that simple act,

You staying,

It broke something in me in the best way.

You stayed when i was nothing but trembling hands and silence.

You stayed when my smile felt borrowed and my hope felt fake.

You stayed even when i couldn’t promise i’d stay with myself.

And in your quiet presence,

Something softened.

Maybe it wasn’t joy,

But it was enough,

Enough to breathe again,

To see color in the world,

Ebough to believe

That maybe i wasn’t meant to disappear after all.

So i smiled again,

Small, shaky, 

but real.

Because somehow,

Even in my mess,

You stayed.

-dmnd