Choked by the Past

Warm dishwater sloshed against my wrists as I scraped a stubborn layer of grease off the kitchen sink. The physical ache from my punishment two days ago had mostly dulled into a stiff soreness, though the memory of that brutality refused to fade. It stayed at the back of my mind, a bitter reminder of the twisted injustice I had been forced to swallow. Even so, beneath all that lingering misery, a