The Power of Words

“You are a terrible writer!”

“Why are you even here?”

“You entered this crap into a contest? How stupid are you?”

“Why are you still writing?”

I still remember how I sighed when I shut my laptop. I could not even read any more of the comments. With every comment my esteem clicked down one notch. I had pushed my desk chair back and had gone over to my bed. I had slid under the covers and stared up at the ceiling. The darkness of my room had pulled me into yet another story, just as it still does. Color flooded the room and people had surrounded me. I had recognized the people from the repeating dreams. They were the doctors that haunted my mind. They stood over me, waiting to start their dissection of me. I remember shaking as their little cutting tools got close to me until I heard a beep and the scene disappeared. I rolled over and grabbed my phone. It had been Taylor, one of my friends. She was the only person that texted me besides my mom, so I had expected it to be her. “Get online! U have 2 see the comments on ur story!”

“They r the same as always,” I text back.

“No, this 1's different.”

“R u sure? They all looked the same 2 me when I was on 10 mins ago.”

“I’m not kidding. It’s different. Go look.”

“Is it from u?”

“No. I’m still working on my review of it.”

“It’s taking u tht long?”

“I’ve been busy…” She knew she was lying, I knew she was. I knew there are that many things wrong with it, but she was never busy. But still, I got up and opened my laptop again. I slowly typed in the password, making sure every letter came up before pressing the ‘enter’ button. The page of my writing glared at me. I refreshed the page and watched as the little arrows followed each other around and around an around, wishing they would stop. Finally the page started loading. I started to scroll down, but it stopped right above the comments section. I stared at the page, what if it wasn’t a good comment? But, though my friends wouldn’t lie about something like that, bad comments were all I ever knew, they were all I ever got.

I remember it feeling like days before my page finally let me scroll down. When I saw the comment, I had gasped.

“Will you guys stop picking on her! Maybe she had a ton of spelling and grammar mistakes, but that DOES NOT mean you can bully her about it! You have no right. I have read some of you guys’ writings and they have just as many mistakes! At least she isn’t cliché like you guys are! Sure this site is about writing, but no one is perfect. Some people are better than others. I myself am not very good, but you guys never pick on me? Why her? She doesn’t deserve it any more than I do. You guys seriously need to get a life. If you have enough time to bully her, don’t you have enough time to help her? If you guys keep on bullying her, I will personally find you and punch your face in. So, beware!”

The user had even scared me at first!

I had immediately messaged her on her wall, thanking her for standing up for me. Now, I talk to her almost every day. We have grown so close; you would think I had actually met her, even though I haven’t. After a few days I asked her to help me with my writing, and she has, a lot. She has helped me with everything from spelling and grammar to plotting and characters. Without her, I don’t think I would even be on this site at all.

Every once and a while I will get comments on my stories, only one was mean. That person had disappeared within a couple days. I have a feeling my friend scared them off, but I can never be sure, I haven’t ever asked her about it, and there is no indication of it on that person’s wall of her ever even looking at it.

So many people live by the phrase “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me”. Obviously those people have never been hurt by words. I am one of the luckier kids. I was able to deal with the pain, many can’t. Many other kids in my position wouldn’t even be here today. That’s why I wrote this.

Words are powerful, don’t use them negatively.

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This was originally a Figment book I wrote for one of the contest (Speechless Contest to be exact). But, it turned into more than just a short story for the contest, it turned into a movement. That's what I want to do. If you have read this, please share it. Not so I get votes, not so I get attention, but because of what this story says. 

Bullying is a terrible thing. Don't be a bully. If you ae being bullied, stand up, take action; Don't let the bully know they are stronger.

I went through a ton of bullying when I was younger, so if you need help, PLEASE message me, I am always willing to help.

Are you joining the movement? Please post the following pledge on your profile:

The Wattpad Bullying Pledge:

-I pledge to stand up when bullied

-I pledge to help the bullied

-I pledge to spread the word

-I pledge to never bully