"I spent my entire life trying to teach myself not to give up. I thought I was being stronger; that the more I hold on to things, the more they will hold on to me. Then it came a time when giving up was the only strong act I can do. But I couldn't. I was too used to be reduced to ashes by the things I love that at the time I needed to give up the most, I couldn't. The spell didn't work; I was weak. Turns out that the more I held on to things, the more they loosed the ties between us. That the harder I worked for something, the worse it felt when I couldn't get it. Now I am lost between chosing the guilt of not trying hard enough or the guilt of trying harder than enough."

Sherihan Gamal - reader submission @ berlin-artparasites