Calico Frost

Mediocre

boring

bland

drawn-out

not over yet

a story with an unfinished ending

an experience so mediocre its bad

a full life dotted with holes

gaps in my well-being

It holds me

keeps me at the right temperature as long as it's between 50-70 degrees outside.

It embraces me

I can be myself in it

I don't have to hide as much

It's hard being back

no, it's worse than hard

impossible

to be around them

to be surrounded by people who hate you for finding yourself

Prompt for 2025-26 challenges:

Character connections: In poetry or prose, write about a connection - whether positive, negative, or neutral - between two characters or yourself and a character.

I am tormented by slight movements

even silence is hurting me

reality seems to be strobing

or something like it -

I've yet to learn how to explain these moments to others,

even myself.

It's not normal,

This is the worst kind of anticipation

this anticipation isn't just fear of what is to come

it's laced around the edges with knowledge of how it went last time

of how a repeat of last year is most likely inevitable.