Emotional Shrapnel

There are some people in this world who either do not realize or do not care how badly words wound. Even slight agitation can cause them to bellow their bullying obscenities. Like lead balls from a muzzle-loading gun, they’ll shoot you down, maiming innocent souls in the process. Both their words and deeds come from a place of narcissism and the need to control. They may cleverly plan their onslaughts or simply go off like bombs for no real reason at all, exploding vileness and scathing their victims’ souls over and over again. It matters not if their attacks are physical or emotional. Often it’s both. The viciousness of each strike they make reveals their utter soullessness. In many cases, their victims are the very people they had earlier on vowed to love and protect. Sometimes they hide their true nature from others as they become increasingly abusive toward spouses and children. They become land mines onto which innocent souls may unwittingly step. Who can truly ever know the extent of the damage they inflict? They leave lacerations on the hearts of the innocent that they injure. The victims who live with these toxic individuals, will continue bleeding emotionally from deep inside. Sadly, the once innocent who survive each horrible onslaught may end up becoming the very monster he or she was once made to endure. Unfortunates such as these will have felt their souls shatter into fragments so tiny they can never be put back together again.