I can feel it pulling at me, grabbing hold every now and again and starting to snatch. It grows stronger with each pull; the usual stumble it used to cause is now harder to get up from. Its claws have tattered my armor and now they are receiving flesh. My calves burn from their venomous nails leaving their deep tracks in me. Soon the hamstring will be visible, and it will take it with a sickly grin. My body will lay helpless as it consumes me as it has done so many times before. My struggle against this beast will never end in victory.
I knew he was there, waiting and watching me, but he could not be seen. His foul odor is ever present but it is simple to ignore what you can not see. To think the beast can be outwitted or forgotten is a high hope for he always comes. His hunger can not be fed; an abyss so dark the angels would weep to spy upon it exists within him and he must always hunt. It is aware of you knowing its presence and it relishes in that knowing, because in knowing so it can taste your fear of it already. It can smell it on the wind, bathe in its filth. Your fear will open a gateway for the beast, it will taste your greatest love, your happiness, and everything that has made you who you are, and it will devour it without warning or mercy.
Attempting to flee the beast only excites it; it loves to give chase, because it knows the inevitable end. It has never been escaped before and it can not be killed. It is just as fast as you and I, but its legs will never tire, it will never grow bored and leave you be, it will always follow until you are worn and all hope you once had has diminished. This creature will feast upon you because it lives within you, all of you have felt it before, you know of its presence. It lives within your heart so that it can eat you from the inside out, it wants you to be hollow but still breathing. The beast has many names, all known by every person living, but one of the most commonly used is Loss.
It is the loss of everything you held dear, everything that kept your heart full. It pulls it all away slowly, so you can watch it leave and as it moves further from you grasp you can remember everything about it that made you whole. You can remember the tightness in your throat the first time you saw your love and knew that it was indeed love. The feeling of the flutters in your stomach, the way your palms sweated in nervousness. The tastes, smells, emotions, and most importantly the embrace are turned from fond memories to burdens; memories that only make you remember how bad you are hurting. It strips you of good feelings and leaves you naked and cold in the dark confines of your mind. And after it is finished, after it has cleaned every bone, it returns home to watch you rebuild what you were, only so it can sink its teeth in once again.