Light Up the Sky

So I'm thinking of starting a novel with this name. But I just wrote this bit of prose to get into it. It's technically a complete story, but it's short. Can I get some constructive criticism? Please and thank you!

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There was a time when I woke up each morning to darkness, both figurative and literal. The literal went away as soon as I got to school, but the figurative, it followed me around like a shadow. It wouldn’t leave me alone despite my meager efforts to dispose of it. It was overpowering and I was helpless. Every day was the same, if not worse, than the one before. I dreaded the monotony. The motions I went through each day were enough to fool everyone, including myself, but the darkness wasn’t relinquishing its stranglehold on me. I put other things in front of my own needs. Long nights when I couldn’t sleep; disturbing nightmares when I could. I was choking. A phone call later, my scars were open for all to see. I was messed up; everyone knew. Loud silences, painful tears, misunderstandings behind closed doors. A whirlwind week. A deal made. The morning after, I woke up. For the first time in a long time I saw the sun rise in the morning, big, bright, and orange. The darkness was fleeing; I could see the light at the end of the tunnel for the first time in who knows when. I knew, right then, that I had made the right choice in the end. I knew I did what was right for me. And I knew that I learned something very important about myself. I had dreams. I had feelings. I was human, after all, and only human. I made mistakes like everyone else. I realized that I just needed to tell myself that it’s okay not to be perfect because no one is, and with that mindset, I can be the sun and light up the sky. That was the day I truly lived.