Herself
It’s what made her,
her.
But time passed, and things were said.
Insults were pitched at her like a baseball.
She felt she had to change, to look
perfect. To act perfectly.
Put up a facade convincing to everyone, including herself.
And so, she threw out all of her clothes.
Making room for newer, trendier, items.
She cut and colored her hair.
She switched her personality, a puzzle in the hands of a toddler.
She was a chameleon, and her new identity was camouflage.
Her own family didn’t recognize her anymore.
“Our poor daughter.”
“She’s lost herself.”
They cried, mourning a girl still living.
When she looked in the mirror, the girl staring back was a stranger.
She was a whole new person, and yet people still grimaced at her in the hallway.
The people had cast her as a foreigner in the country of society.
There was no changing that.
Her personality had already been established, set in stone.
They expected her behavior and knew how to belittle her.
Make her feel like
nothing.
Kids still taunted her, and her bedroom remained her best friend.
The only ones who truly sympathized were the empty walls surrounding her.
She had lost herself in a sea of meaningless names thrown at her,
and she would have to drown to find herself again.
Sarah Orkin, Eighth Grade
27
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