Ghosts

They exist right there on the edge of you just far enough out that you can't always see them. You feel them though, haunting you. Past reflections of things gone wrong, changes you wish you could make, chances you wish you had taken, broken hopes and fallen dreams. Personal ghosts whispering siren songs in your ear. Disturbingly present and persistent at all times, growing louder and more fierce with every doubt. They lead you off course with a pull so strong you almost don't even realize it has happened until it's too late and you are headed over the cliff into the jagged rocks below. They twist and turn everything inside you, mutate it until confidence becomes arrogance, nobility becomes selfishness, aspirations become impossibilities, mistakes become regrets, anticipation becomes fear and hopes turn bitter and sour, until the you that once was becomes.... haunted.