Intro

Torrential rain. It pours and pours. The day out looks bleak and it matches the way she feels. She sits huddled against a hard, brick wall, her hands over her knees in a fetal position. Loose strands from her oily hair gently blow in the soft breeze. It's the coldest day she has seen in months and her teeth chatter. Her old woolen sweater is threadbare and is coming undone on the sleeves near her hand. Even though she isn't consciously aware she's doing it, she's tugging on loose wool strands as her mind works overtime in her anxiousness. She begins to jolt backwards and forwards, as if she's rocking herself better.

Merely a few yards from her, there are people everywhere. The place is quite crowded but she has never felt so alone in her whole life. Teenagers are giggling and texting as they shop, middle-aged housewives are catching up over coffee, and office workers quickly dart through crowds of people to get back to the office. The whole world is going about their day to day lives and it doesn't even occur to them that she's going through her own personal hell. Every once in a while, someone will notice her and they'll give her a disgusted look, or even worse; a pity stare.

She used to be like them; she used to be normal. Well, as normal as normal is. She can't help but feel a longing to go back in time, maybe about six months. Six months ago, she was one of them, one of those normal people going about their lives. She can't help but think back to how she got there.