i. push your feelings down. deep deep down into the darkest corners of your soul, a pretty little wooden thing with a lock no mortal could break.
ii. hide the key.
iii. late at night, when the stars sing your name and the moon whispers your praises, unlock the box. bring out your feelings, handle them carefully. they are fragile glass, fine china just begging to be smashed.
iv. this is why you hide them. it's for their own good.
v. put on a song you haven't heard in a decade and look at your feelings. every bright and shadowy corner.
vi. cry for all the versions of yourself, the ones who gave you these emotions and the ones who will have to carry them.
vii. do not let your tears extend into panic. travel to the edge of the precipice, stare into the void, see what happens if you play Pandora.
viii. push your feelings back into the box, one by one. ignore their silent protests. they don't want to go back to the darkness. they don't understand what's good for them.
ix. lock the box again. tight, tight, tight.
x. hide the key.
