i lay on my back, staring at a point just past the dust on my ceiling. anxiety and restlessness clung to and wound around my bones and limbs entirely. an unseen being pressed the heel of its palm steadily into my chest, and the air that managed to escape my parted lips left in slow, shallow gusts. i wished it would cease entirely. i felt a sort of shiver extend from my heart to the gut of my stomach, and then a pause. Relief finally came with blurred vision and quiet streams of salty tears that seemed almost too shy to wet my cheeks. the dust that i continued to look past began to dance and swell and elongate from behind the wells of tears in my eyes.