Being depressed is like walking along a busy street and suddenly falling into a steep, deep,
black hole
It swallows you up,
You lie in the bottom of the hole, on a little patch of hard dirt, and stare up at the steep, smooth, granite walls of rock, rocketing to the sky
The walls are sleek and slick, with no little edges
not even the strongest of expert fingers could find a foot hold to pull themselves out of this hole
meanwhile,
up above ground,
life continues on without you.
No one notices that you have fallen in a hole,
well, many do not know you are gone,
some, see you down in your deep, dark, steep hole,
and they think to themselves:
"um, she must really like the dark?!"
"she got herself down there, she can get herself out!"
"she's really a bitch,"
"she'll come out when she is ready,"
"she can fight through this, she just needs to try a little harder,"
"It's not that bad down there"
a doctor walks by and throws some pills down, "here, take these, these will help give your strength back,"
a kind stranger throws a rope down into the pit, "here, grab this rope and I'll pull you out,"
I appreciated the kindness, but I was too weak to grab onto the rope
the stranger late for an appointment, hurried away.
as I was gaining strength to grab the rope and try to pull myself up,
another passerby kicked the rope into my hole
after this, many people passed my hole
some jumped over it, some walked around it,
many people walked way around my hole, avoiding it entirely,
some even put boards across, to make it easier to cross over me.
when I tried to call for help, my words became muffled in my throat, and only a gurgle came up.
I was tired and hungry.
Fortunately, I had my purse with me and I pulled out my bright red one piece swim suit
I put it on, and now anyone who looked down into the hole, couldn't miss me.
I was a sharp red contrast to the sleek, dark, straight smooth walls around me.
"surely, anyone who passes over now, can't miss seeing me down here, and they will realize that I need help."
I saw some people walking above me. Their arms were locked and they were laughing giddily as they approached. They came upon my hole suddenly and almost fell in. They jumped aside, and laughing uncontrollable at their near catastrophe, they carried on.
Other people were more careful and walked around the dark hole, without venturing near. People were always rushing here and there, no time to slow down, no time to look for others who may not be keeping up,
"she would be here if she wanted to be,"
"She could have come,"
"it's up to her to save herself."
days went by and my hope for rescue was fading...
then suddenly, a friend wearing a bright yellow swim suit jumped into the hole and held me up,
I reproached her "why did you come in here with me? With you down in this hole with me, we are both in trouble. You can't help me being here with me. We are both stuck now."
the friend gently replied, "I saw you in trouble and I came to be with you. No, I cannot help you, but I can sit with you in your pain."
so we sat
we sat
we sat
after a very long while, we begin to talk,
as the words filled the air, the hole seemed to get a little bit smaller, the walls a little less steep, the air not quite so stagnant, and the hole not quite as dark.
then,
another friend, wearing a pale pink swim suit passing by, saw the two of us down there, and jumped down too.
"Oh no!" I gasped. "All 3 of us will be stuck now."
she sat with us for a long while...
as we talked, again the hole seemed to get a little bit smaller, the walls a little less steep, the air not quite so stagnant, and the hole not quite as dark.
we had an idea--
the strongest gal would put her friend on her shoulder, and I would climb on top and be lifted out. Forming a strong base, the third girl in the pink suit boosted her friend with the yellow suit on her shoulders, and I tried to climb on top. We toppled over. We tried again. We fell again. We kept trying and trying until we were exhausted and could not make a strong tower with just the three of us.
We all fell silent. Cold, tired, and now very hungry, we felt sad. What to do now?
The three of us huddled together and made quite a sight - me with my bright red suit, my friend in her yellow suit, and our third friend in her pink suit.
as the street got quiet again for the night, someone came looking for their missing friend in the pink suit
"hello, hello," we heard a voice calling in the darkness.
"where are you Pinkie? Where are you?" "down here!" she cried out!
The friend spied our odd looking trio and rushed to our rescue. She brought her friends and they jumped in our hole. Now the hole felt small and all the jumping in made the sides cave in,
and like a sand castle at the beach, the walls began to crumble down.
As the walls tumbled, each friend lifted her friend up on another's shoulder's until almost everyone was out.
I was second to last out, and as I made it to the surface, I gulped in the fresh air. I looked like a wide mouth trout being pulled out of a river on a fishing line, gasping for air.
I now only had to reach my hand in and grab the remaining friend and pull her to the surface.
As I did so, the hole collapsed. The deep, dark, steep, scary, suffocating hole was all gone.
I was out and surrounded by all my friends. The hole was gone. There was no evidence of a hole at all anymore. Only the sand in my pockets remind me of the hard days.
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