22.

[Take that, Confusing German Grammar! :)!... this is completely unrelated to the writing. I really should start trying to make them more cohesive, but I really did want to post this one. this little diagram totally saved my confusion amongst my german homework].
[oh, p.s. I would be responding to the comments and people's blogs, but for some reason blogspot isn't letting me comment. :( everyone is doing a great job, and I appreciate the feedback and compliments]

...[insert Boadicea by Enya]...
I like humming.
humming has always been comforting to me.
being able to hum, or sing for that matter,
has often kept me in a state of
peace. tranquility. serenity.
whatever you want to call the harmonious balance that arises
out of all the blackness and darkness that may shade our day's light.
when I was young,
I used to hum or sing to myself to keep away all the
paranoia-ridden manifestations my anxiety would bring
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that singing saved me on those
long, dark nights where I was too afraid to peel my eyes away from the doorway.
my family didn't believe me when I told them
I thought something was wrong with me
they thought because I kept my fears to myself that they just
didn't exist at all.
they said I wanted something to be wrong with me
so I didn't bring it up again.
the darkness I had inside of me was hushed on the outside,
and therefore echoing on the inside,
resounding maliciously in my skull.
It took years to convince myself I didn't need to sneak around my
own home, fearing the monstrous individuals in my head
waiting for me around that doorway, that hallway, that window.
I suppose that's why I like singing so much.
The operatic resonance, flooding away every taunting voice
every mocking grin, every blood red stare
that ever unleashed unrelenting fear into my heart.
Pouring and overflowing with pure, orotund sound,
the garish critics of the mind begin to grow soft and recede
into the depths of my mentality
they forget the joy of manipulation, the elation in sadism,
witnessing the awe in vocal oscillation, silence overcomes them
so they may bathe in the complete light that is song and music
thus all the darkness falls away, evanescing in the airy glow
and all that is left is
humming.