I started writing again. It was like finally being able to exhale after holding my breath for ages. Of course everything was rocky during the first few minutes. I had to do the introductions all over again.

Pen, meet paper. Paper, this is pen. Be nice to each other so I can write something that actually makes sense.... pretty please?

It was touch and go for a while. Pen kept skipping, paper folded up and I started crying rivers of tears. I even contemplated putting them back inside my drawer but later decided to just forge on.

So forge on, I did. I wrote until my fingers started cramping. Until the voices in my head quieted down. Until I had to pee.

I wrote a couple of stories and a few essays. The experience was profoundly satisfying. Like sex, only I didn't have to pretend I got off in the end.