The ones that linger.

She watched the sun set, colors flooding the sky.
Peace ran through her veins.

In moments like this,
The memories came.
The pain.
The fear.
The shame.
The disbelief.

Being told it never happened.
That she misunderstood.

So many years ago.
The memory haunted her.

It crouched in a corner,
an ember in the ash,
waiting for her mind to go blank -
leaving just enough space to flare back to life.

Decades had passed.
The pain had shifted its shape -
from flesh to thought,
from thought to the dent on her soul.

She had hoped it would drift away,
as so many others had.

But no.

This one stayed.