As Still As A Tide

"Before we learn to speak, we learn to feel alone".
Everyone wants to have good friends.
Not just someone to laugh with, but someone who truly sees you-someone who stays.

Joel Vinkens was quiet, almost invisible in a noisy classroom.
He barely spoke, kept to himself, and watched the world from the corners.
But inside him lived something strong-
Because while he was silent, he still stood tall.
He always rose for the truth.
Even when fear trembled in his chest,
he stood against wrong and spoke when it mattered.

But not every voice that speaks beside you is meant to stay.
Sometimes, the people who give you a voice...
fear what happens when you finally learn to use it.

And in the quiet that follows, you realise-
not all friendships are meant to last,
but every heartbreak teaches you how to stand taller in your own silence.
but sometimes, even the ones closest to us are the first to break it. Isn't it?