After that it was a quick slide into dangerous work, into moving away and being moved. It was a quick switch painless and unnoticeable. One day the world was wide open, full of endless possibilities. The next she knew it had passed and left her behind. Left her behind wandering without any hope of reaching any place she might make into a home. Her promise and potential gone – eroded away one burn after the other. Each layer stripped away until she had nothing left but a dubious talent that was guaranteed to either kill her or drive her to sand and translation. A long series of compromises and retreats. Episodes of loss, pushed down point by point. Concessions taken. Concessions given. You start to see signs and there’s no way back no matter how hard you search. You’re already on it, losing yourself, losing your way, retreating from where you believed you should have been. But even then you have to wonder if maybe you were wrong to begin with.