At home, the pressure was even more suffocating. Her parents, driven by their own ambitions and disappointments, placed a heavy burden on her young shoulders. They expected her to excel, to be the perfect daughter, the shining star.
But Taurelle, with her quiet nature and introverted spirit, struggled to meet their expectations. "Why can't you be more like your cousin, Anya?" her mother would lament, her voice laced with disappointment. Anya, a charismatic and popular girl, was the epitome of success in their eyes. Taurelle, on the other hand, was a constant source of frustration, a reminder of their own unfulfilled dreams. They accused her of laziness, of apathy, of not trying hard enough.
They blamed her for their own failures, for their own inability to achieve the life they had envisioned. The weight of their expectations pressed down on her, a crushing burden that made her feel like a constant disappointment. Taurelle tried to explain, to articulate the quiet storm raging within her, but her words were met with dismissal and frustration. They couldn't understand her introverted nature, her need for solitude, her love for the quiet beauty of the world around her. They only saw her lack of outward success, her inability to live up to their idealized image of a perfect daughter. The pressure to conform, to be someone she wasn't, was relentless. It choked the life out of her, leaving her feeling drained and empty.
She retreated further into herself, finding solace only in the pages of books, where she could escape the constant judgment and the weight of their expectations. The world outside her bedroom window seemed to be moving at a frantic pace, a blur of colors and noise that she couldn't understand. She felt like a solitary tree, rooted in the ground, watching the world rush by, unable to join in the dance of life. The whispers of doubt, fueled by her parents' disappointment and the indifference of her peers, grew louder, more insistent. They were a constant companion, a chorus of negativity that threatened to drown out any flicker of hope or self-belief. She was a shadow, a ghost, a girl who had lost her voice.
