It was a bright and star-filled night in July of 2021, the air crisp and welcoming. The sound of the nearby cars was almost completely blurred out by the thoughts overflowing my mind. It had been almost a year since I chose to be on my own, a decision that felt forced upon me like a dry throat screaming for water. While sitting and listening to the environment around me that always was awake, I began thinking about Home. Not the place I had scrapped together working 45+ brutal and pain-staking hours to barely afford every month, or the place where everything I owned resided quietly waiting for its next adventure. I was thinking about the home that was felt by being around and supported by family. The Home with the delicious smell of fresh breakfast every weekend, and the constant playing of my younger siblings who didn’t know what sleeping in was. Although it may have been annoying or stressful at times, I was dearly missing it after a long day of work. Tears began to fill my eyes. Then slowly proceeded down my face, tampered with by the chilly night air they became cold as they finish their journey to my lap where they would reside until met by the others that followed. The flood of thoughts now overwhelmed my suppressed emotions, attempting to squeeze any sound out of me. It wasn’t often I would feel this way, but why is this time so difficult? At the time it was confusing by now it seems almost too simple; I was completely alone. My train of thought was abruptly stopped by a drop in my gut, as though I’d fallen off a hill. I hear the creaking and squeaking of breaks, and the lock of a car going into the park. I was so deep into my thoughts and feelings I’d almost left reality behind. The trees behind the complex light up from a porch light and the buzz of a mosquito signals the end of my time in the cold metal chair upon the used porch. I stand up, the wood caressing my feet as I rebalance my mind and body. Sliding the door open I step inside to prepare myself for some much-needed sleep to prepare me for another day at work.