The Glass Garden

19

There was a time when I believed love meant obedience—being quiet, small, safe. My parents called it care, but I learned that even gentle walls can cut deep. They said the world was too loud for me, that I was too soft for its storms. Maybe they were right—but no one told me that flowers can still grow in silence. When I met Arlen, I didn’t expect warmth. I didn’t trust it. Yet he looked at me as if I wasn’t broken, only waiting to bloom. He never asked me to change, to fit, or to prove that I deserved to be loved. Instead, he sat with me among the shattered glass, teaching me that light doesn’t hurt when it’s shared. Sometimes I still flinch when people raise their voices, when I hear the echo of old rules. But then I remember the garden—the way sunlight filters through the cracks, how it touches every petal, even the ones that once hid in shadow. This story isn’t about being rescued. It’s about finding the courage to open the door, to breathe, to love without fear. . You were never too much. You were simply waiting for someone to love you as you are—and for the moment you could love yourself the same way

Silver Vale

13

I used to think my voice was a curse. Every whisper I heard from others made me hide a little more until silence became my armor. People called me strange, cursed, too kind for my own good. But I kept listening — because sometimes, hidden behind the pain, I could hear the truth. Then I met him — a man whose heart was so quiet it frightened me. His silence wasn’t cruel; it was filled with stories he’d forgotten how to tell. When I looked at him, I didn’t see a fallen prince; I saw someone just as lost and longing as I was. Together we walked through fear, jealousy, and every lie the world told us about who we should be. And somewhere along that path, I realized that every whisper I’d ever heard — every voice that said I was wrong, broken, too much — was fading. Because one voice remained. Mine. . You are not too much. You are exactly enough — and those who truly see you will hear the music within your silence.