Challenge for MarshmallowClan! It's about a cat who gets bullied.

I walk through the crowds. I wish I was a shadow. I wish they couldn't see me. I wish I could just fly away, or perhaps disappear, or…

Their insults thrown at me… They're harsh, they hurt me, both on the outside and inside. I can feel them ripping apart my very being, jabbing and cutting at my soul like thorns and brambles that chain around my heart, they break my bones like my bones were nothing but shards of ice.

They hurt. But perhaps I'm used to it now. Perhaps the pain is already numbed and I can't feel it anymore.

I wish.

I can feel their eyes staring at me.

"Fox-heart."

Staring at me as I walk.

"Mouse-dung."

I wish I was a shadow that just hid behind them.

"Fleabag."

Maybe then they wouldn't notice me anymore.

"Weak."

What did I ever do to them?

"Pathetic."

Sometimes I want to die.

But those aren't the worst at all. Those are only the ones I can still say aloud. The others have long been imprinted into my mind, cutting at my everyday life like ice, like hail.

The pain doesn't wash away.

The rain. The sun. By now they already look the same to me.

The darkness. The light. I think I prefer to stay in the shade. Because no cat can see me like that. Because I can be alone. Untouched. Not disturbed. Finally.

Sometimes I ask myself where I can find that. I know the answer, but maybe I'm not brave enough to face it yet.

I feel them shoving me even when they're not here. I feel their words being thrown at me even when their voices are far in the past. I remember. It wasn't just from when I was a kit. It was my whole life. My whole life, I've been looked down upon. Because I'm smaller? Because I'm weaker? No. I am just as strong as you.

But if I am… Why can't I handle this? Why do I keep looking back?

Sometimes I doubt myself. I know it should never have happened. But it's their fault. I want to fly away. I can only blame them, right? They caused this.

I've done nothing wrong.

I can feel the stone cutting my throat. It feels strangely relaxing as all my blood slowly pools beneath me. I smile one last time, perhaps the first time too, and fall limp as my life eventually slips away, my memories fade, and all your words are finally, finally, gone.