Still Standing

Elizabeth is a young girl whose smile is worth more than a million wishes. She learned how to smile before she learn how to speak from her parents.

AI Generated

Her smile is different from others because it is not the kind of smile that comes from joy, but the one that practices thin, careful words like armor. She is called strong because that is how people see her, and she has never complained. People mistook her silence for peace.

Every morning of each day, Elizabeth would wake up before the sunshine, because darkness felt honest. In the mirror, she searched her face for traces of the girl she used to be, but all she could find were tired eyes and questions that never slept.

Elizabeth carried sadness in her heart, the way others carried handbags quietly, without explanation. At home, her laughter had become a memory for her. Words were spoken, but none were meant for her to listen. Elizabeth learned early that love could exist in a room and still never touch her. Knowing that she stopped asking. Asking hurt her more than hoping.

At school, in crowds, online she was present, yet invisible. Her voice stayed trapped behind her ribs, afraid of becoming a burden. She listened more than she spoke, and when she did speak, it was usually to comfort others and not herself. People were surprised how her saddest soul learn empathy for others instead of herself.

At night, her thoughts grew louder. Regrets replayed like broken songs. "If only" became her most well-known phrase. She then wondered when she stopped believing in better days to come in her life.

Sometimes she would cry without tears coming out of her eyes, but for her, each word became a place for her to breathe. Each sentence carried pieces of pain she was too afraid to speak aloud. Slowly, the weight on her chest loosened.

To cut a long story short, Elizabeth suddenly became happy.