All my life, I was told one thing-difference must be hidden, erased, extinguished. "Orpheus, you don't belong. You can't belong. You don't deserve to belong. You will always be alone."

My relationship with my parents was devastating. The older I got, the deeper I sank into darkness-the very darkness they pushed me into. I had no one left. But just as I was losing myself in the shadows, a hand reached out to me-Odysseus.

Was it friendship? Was it romance? I don't know. But it was something real. A love without judgment, without conditions. A love unlike any I had ever known.

But life can be a ruthless player, weaving its cruelty like a silent storm. One moment, you're standing; the next, you're drowning in a vast ocean, struggling to stay afloat as the waves drag you

under.

Mom, Dad... I'm drowning. But you're nowhere to be found.

​

Who am I?

​

I am pain that shutters you.

I am the terror that grips you at the thought of death.

I am the sorrow that crushes you when love is gone.

I am what you fear your son might become.

​

I am Orpheus. And this is my story.