-as the dust settled-

as the dust settled, memories rose from the ashes, one by one. pain emerging. remembering the agony. she can't swallow the sorrow anymore, not when it's dribbling down her cheeks in saline from her eyes. faces resurface when she touches the scars, and the nightmares are tattooed to the backs of her eyelids. the lights flash back and forth across the dark floor, huddled in the corner. clutching her knees like the bars of a cage. and the little voice whispers that maybe, probably, she's better off with the shadows.