Rejoice

Dawn had begun to rise, but Spirit knew something stood between him and the peace he had asked the stars for.

Himself.

Spirit stood in front of the mirror again, glimpsing at his reflection.

The mirror had seen everything. The nights he stared at it in silence, the moments he apologized to the boy he once was, the breakdowns where he barely recognized the person looking back.

But today felt different.

For months the mirror showed him the younger version of himself- the hopeful boy who believed in hope....

Today... that boy wasn't staring back.

Instead, something darker stared back.

The weight of every betrayal, the pain and the voice that told him he was never enough.

The darkness that once tried to consume him had return.

The air felt like a dark war as the war inside his mind for the battle of good and bad again.

The voices had return.

*The Reflection* "Why won't you just go away?"

Spirit hold his fist tight, staring into the reflection.

For so long he ran from these voices, tried to drown them out, pretended they didn't exist.

But today he wasn't running.

Today he faced them.

He answered the mirror. "Because I am parents' son. Not you"

"And today reminded me of how much my family love and sacrificed for me.

*Voice cracking*   "I Have To Be Worth That." "And I won't be, if I keep letting you set the world on fire instead of living up to what I was meant to be."

"You're just a phase, and in case you haven't noticed.... I'm over it."

Spirit's fist slammed into the mirror.

The glass shattered, cracks racing across the air before pieces broke and crash onto the floor.

The reflection split into fragments.

No longer one face, no longer one version of himself.

Spirit stood there just breathing in.

For months, the mirror had been a battlefield, a place where guilt and self hatred stared back at him. But now the reflection was gone.

And the man standing there remained.

Spirit slowly lowered his hand and looked at the shattered glass scattered on the floor.

His thoughts drifted to someone who had pushed him toward this moment when he didn't believe he had the strength to face himself.

Antoinette.

"You were right about what you said."

"My darkness... I was still holding onto him."

Spirit closed his eye for a moment. "Thank you."

An empty and peaceful silenced felt different.

Spirit stepped carefully around the glass and looked outside the window.

The sky had begun to glow.

The pinks and golds stretched across the horizon as the sun rose, pushing the night away.

Spirit rested his hand against the window frame and watched the world wakeup.

For so long he believed the world was nothing but cruelty, but the sunrise didn't, it felt like relief.

Birds called in the distance, the wind moved gently through the trees.

Life continued forward.

Spirit took a slow breath, and for the first time in a long time... the darkness inside him wasn't screaming, just quiet. And sometimes, quiet is enough.

As Spirit looked upon the horizon, he realized something important.

Rejoicing didn't mean forgetting the pain, it meant standing in the light after the storm, and choosing to keep walking forward.

The sun finally rose across the sky, and Spirit believed something he once thought was impossible.

Maybe...

Just maybe...  Better Days really were ahead.

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