2016 | Bedevilled

Here’s a short text inspired by the mood and title Bedevilled 2016 :

The year had started like any other—resolutions scribbled on napkins, the slow thaw of January's gray. But by spring, something had curdled in the air. Not politics alone, though the news cycle was a fever dream of outrage and absurdity. No, it was quieter than that. A personal haunting. bedevilled 2016

2016 became the year the devil didn't need horns or hooves. He wore earbuds, scrolled through Twitter, and whispered, "You're the only one who sees it." Here’s a short text inspired by the mood

She tried to exorcise herself—cleansing rituals from the internet, sage from the farmers' market, a therapist who called it "anxiety." But the bedevilment wasn't in her head. It was in the calendar. Every date felt possessed. Every anniversary, a trap. No, it was quieter than that

She first noticed it in the way mirrors held her gaze a second too long. Then in the flicker of streetlights that followed her home. Her phone autocorrected "hope" to "hopeless." Her dog growled at empty corners. Friends canceled plans with excuses that sounded rehearsed. By summer, she stopped sleeping. The ceiling above her bed seemed to breathe.