𝐴 𝑃𝐼𝐸𝐶𝐸 𝑂𝐹 𝐶𝐴𝐾𝐸 | ✔︎

𝘊𝘏𝘈𝘗𝘛𝘌𝘙 𝘖𝘕𝘌

I make my way through the streets of New York City with a smile proudly set on my face, the wind dances along my skin creating a sea of shivers to rack throughout me,

I listen to car horns and someone cussing in the distance, watch people walk past me, some with confidence, others without so much as a realization they're outside,

City life isn't for everyone, some enjoy the peaceful serenity of a quiet neighborhood, where the cars aren't heard and all is far away, but I adore it, it makes me feel less alone walking past so many people with different stories and tasks they need to complete in a day, everyone in the city is just in their own little worlds, as if we each have a movie we're staring in.

If my life was a movie, I'm sure, no one would want to watch such a gore filled nightmare, a never-ending cycle that kept repeating every day making me wonder if normal life was something I'd ever be able to reach. And I was able to-that cycle broke five years ago...today.

Its been five years without the screams of my parent's disappointments, the bruises that once coated my skin, and the smell of whiskey overwhelming my senses, it has been five years since I managed to walk out of my childhood home and never look back,

I remember I worked my ass off, at any job I could get, never sparing a second on my looks or making friends, it was mostly the same routine every day,

Wake up and immediately get ready for work,

After finishing my shift at one job i'd go to another...and sometimes i'd work a night shift somewhere else,

Get home be punished and yelled at for staying up so late,

And repeat.

It took a while for me to earn enough cash to leave, I worked tirelessly since I was sixteen to have enough for a stable life and college, and when I was nineteen I packed a suitcase and backpack with all my things and I left in the middle of the night, with only a letter on the kitchen table stating I was gone and never coming back,

It was the bravest thing I had ever done...it was terrifying trying to leave with the possibility of being caught by my parents, yet somehow I managed to, and I thank God for it each day.

I'm healthy and safe now, which is something Ill never take for granted.

I'm walking down the streets of a city far away from my parents, with a smile brightly shining across my face, and my chest burns with undeniable pride for myself, I've endeared so much from such a young age, and I never gave up, I kept my head held high and I got out of that situation and made a life for myself that fills me with gratitude,

My bakery comes into view as I walk around the corner and my smile never falters it just grows, when I was a child I found comfort in baking and cooking, it was my way to escape from all the torture I had to face, and it became my life, it consumed me whole and made hope glimmer in my chest,