I see you, little one.

You were too young..

Too young to understand why the voices that should have soothed you, were silent when you needed them the most. You sat in the corner of a world too loud for your small, trembling heart- your hands clumsy and unsure as you tried to catch the tears running down your cheeks. No one told you it's okay to cry. And so, you learned to stifle your sobs, biting down on your lip until the coppery taste of pain felt like comfort.

The nights were the hardest, weren't they? When the dark wrapped around you like a stranger's cold embrace. You reach out for someone, anyone, only to find the emptiness staring back. You curled yourself into the smallest version of you, knees to your chest, arms around your lithe body- as if you could hold yourself together while the world seemed hellbent on tearing you apart.

You whispered lullabies to yourself, your voice cracking on words you didn't fully understand. You hoped the melodies could fill the space where warmth should have been, but the sound of your own voice reminded you that no one was listening. You were too young to carry it all, but carry it you did. And when you cried- because children were supposed to cry- you wiped your tears with sleeves too long for your tiny arms. You didn't know then that you were learning something you were never meant to learn: How to endure heartbreak before you could even spell the word.

You deserved gentle hands to cup your cheeks and lift your chin. You deserved soft voices that said, "I see you. I'm here." But no one came, and so you taught yourself to be your own savior. Yet even now, as you stand taller and speak louder, there's still a part of you- small, fragile, forever young- that aches for the love you never got. For the hands that never reached for yours. For the nights when the monsters should've been chased away by the flicker of a light that was never lit.

You were too young to learn how to wipe your own tears. And yet, you did. You were too young to learn how to fight. And perhaps, the most heartbreaking thing of all is that no one ever noticed the strength it took for you to survive.