Friendly Fire

Prose by Ada J. Raven

Photo by Uriel SC on Unsplash

I walk along the neural pathway

extending from one cell to the other…

It’s all one big maze to me, familiar and not at the same time.

Above me, a mess of wires glittering and pulsing with my memories, traumas, and “-isms”, reminding me of all that I am and what made me this way.

Who’d have thought I would make it this far? I certainly didn’t.

A stray thought collides with another and erupts in an explosion of sparks, raining down upon me with an icy-hot sting…

I duck, but I can’t avoid it. It’s in me already. And it burns.

Many more like this force me into a ball, crying, my stinging head in my hands.

The unfriendliest of friendly fire… I am my own ally, my own enemy, my ally’s enemy, and the destroyer of my haven.