She's going nowhere. The energy of the early morning walk to school has left her, evaporated, like a puddle under the burning African sun. Grades slipping, friends fading, lost. No one cares, her friends think she is heartless, her teachers think she is difficult, but they cannot see the sadness in her heart. Like a parasite; it is eating her up bit by bit. She lives only for the weekends, but those short forty eight hours slip away like sunlight, those few moments of freedom spent in front of a dead computer screen, waiting for something that she knows will not come. But suddenly, one day, running along in P.E she stumbles, and falls. "I can't do this anymore", she mutters, and her failure flashes in front of her eyes like a sign, mocking her. A short burst of laughter escapes her dry, cracked lips, as she remembers a similar scenario, way back then.
Slowly, but surely, she picks her self up and begins to run on. "You will finish this whispers a voice in her ear", but when she turns there is no one there. Suddenly, there is the finishing line and with a sudden burst of energy she surges forward, a winner in last place. And with that small triumph she makes a promise to herself, "never again".
Slowly but surely, her heart begins to mend, she joins the choir, gets an A in the end of year spelling test. She is not the person she longs to be, athletic, skinny, a super model with unmatchable charisma. But she is always there, to lend a pencil or help with a particularly tricky math problem and suddenly she notices she's not alone. People have accepted her, she finds invites to parties and movies more frequent, and people stop to talk with her, like she's worth something; not a nobody. For the first time in her life she is never alone, and with a small toss, the razor blade is gone, she is whole again.
Slowly, but surely, she picks her self up and begins to run on. "You will finish this whispers a voice in her ear", but when she turns there is no one there. Suddenly, there is the finishing line and with a sudden burst of energy she surges forward, a winner in last place. And with that small triumph she makes a promise to herself, "never again".
Slowly but surely, her heart begins to mend, she joins the choir, gets an A in the end of year spelling test. She is not the person she longs to be, athletic, skinny, a super model with unmatchable charisma. But she is always there, to lend a pencil or help with a particularly tricky math problem and suddenly she notices she's not alone. People have accepted her, she finds invites to parties and movies more frequent, and people stop to talk with her, like she's worth something; not a nobody. For the first time in her life she is never alone, and with a small toss, the razor blade is gone, she is whole again.
