Even in darkness I cannot hide from you

I won. I always win. From innocent hide-and-seeks to loitering in alleyways to confined toxic teenage secrets… But you must’ve practiced searching while I’m gone, because you always find me. On brighter days, we ventured on the clear, cloudless beach hand-in-hand, my shadow swallowed by quicksand; my secrets cradled away by wave crests. ‘Hold mummy’s hand,’ you warned me in our reveries, ‘so you’re not lost at sea.’ Now I’m reaching up to your fingers, up where you live, proud of your winning streaks. Now tears streak my face because goddesses like you can’t discover hell. Now I win forever.