In a moment alone in my car, I turned my chest inside out screaming. I did not stop until I tasted blood in my mouth, and screaming was no longer an option.

I blew out my vocal cords in a sort of self exorcism, trying to banish the void inside me. To stop the sickness and shock. Of course, it remained contained.

Like a tornado inside a titanium vault, my broken voice whipped fragmented emotions against the walls of my chest. Capturing, for no longer than a second, how I truly feel without my dog.

Luciana, 30