oneword: rumour

The whispers flutter about, wrapping themselves around me. They swirl and swivel, flip and flop, from air current to air current. Surrounding, circling the trunk of my core. My roots claw into the earth, trying desperately to ground me in some semblance of reality. My branches reach out, grasping at air, at truth. But the whispers, the questions, the hurts, the challenges push me and pull me at their will.