Little Things in Life

Broken Nails

They thought she was crying because she broke her nail.

It was in the midst of fall, when everything was getting started; everything was just settling down. It was in an empty room, small windows exposing her if you looked close enough. But no one ever did, so no one ever knew.

She was crying, with her back caved to protect her heart, and her face hidden to protect her emotions. She was heaving, but it could barely be heard. She was always a silent crier, those that cry in the middle of the night, with only the moon to empathize with.

Her face was beautifully coated with a cherry red blush, and her eyes were slightly puffed. But, if anyone were to see her, they'd be hit with the nauseating feeling of disgusting lust for the beauty of this creature who's been so cruelly written.

Her lashes were coated in tears, and her throat was red. Strange hands were wrangling them to stop any sort of noise from coming out. You could see barely visible scratches along her checks, arms, and neck. Blood rushed up to recover the pale tint on her face.

She was crying, but no one saw. And even if they did, her faceless body could not tell them why. They did not know that she was broken inside. She could not be repaired.

It's not that no one cared, it's just that she never wanted them to know. She didn't want them to know how she's struggling to pick up pieces of herself that she ripped away, how she's struggling to stop the rush of water as the bottle is overfilled.

She was crying, and it was sunny outside. It was blue and bright, and everybody was laughing despite the season of death being upon them. Everybody was laughing, everybody was oblivious.

Maybe if the windows were a bit bigger, or if she hadn't the will to hide herself, pressed against the corner of the wall. Maybe if someone had walked by and noticed a cowering shadow. Maybe if everybody wasn't laughing. Maybe then, they would have noticed.

But no one did. So no one knew.

They thought she was crying because she broke her nail. But no one saw what I saw. No one saw the mess she was in. Nobody knew.

She broke her nail because she was crying.