The One Battle You Can’t Win

After that relentless spiral of pain,

I stared forward for a few seconds,

my thoughts still scattered…

Until my senses slowly returned.

And that's when I realized ..

I was no longer inside the black castle.

"Where… am I?"

That was the first question I asked myself.

But the answers ..

They were starting to take shape… on their own.

I was sitting on a wooden chair… inside an ordinary room with a single bed, a desk, and a few simple pieces of furniture. Things that made it obvious the space belonged to a guy in his twenties.

Right in front of me ...

another person sat.

Also in his twenties, with a look so familiar I recognized him instantly.

We were face-to-face.

I started laughing—quietly at first.

A hollow laugh, wondering if I'd finally lost my mind.

After all…

This room was mine.

These were my things.

And the person sitting across from me…

Was me.