The Girl In a Glass Box
I once knew a girl who lived her life in a glass box
She sat and she stared at the world revolving around her
the world turned and she stayed
Sometimes she would place her hand to the glass
Seeking the warmth of the outside
She could almost taste the sunshine
The box barely fit her frame
It pressed against her back
Forcing her to crouch
She couldn’t shift for fear that it would break
and the shards of glass would sink into her skin.
Infecting her
so that she would never be free of the box
When people walked past she would tap on the glass
hoping they would hear her
But she was afraid to tap too hard
Afraid to break the box
So she sat in the box and watched
Days turned into weeks
weeks into months
and soon those who walked outside disappeared
and the girl was alone
She sat in the cold empty space
Frozen in time
her muscles cramped
her feet fell asleep
her throat grew dry
yet she still was afraid to move
Then one morning she awoke to the sound of laughter
just beyond the horizon was a beautiful boy
The boy smiled and beckoned the girl.
She shook her head
the boy beckoned again.
Again she refused
The beautiful boy’s shoulders slumped
His smile faded
And he turned to leave
The girl's heart tightened
“Wait!”
She fought her rising panic as she twisted in her box.
she felt the top of the box move
The boy was almost gone
The girl flew into a frenzy
She pushed
She prodded
She threw her weight against the glass box
Her long-held prison
shuttered
swayed
and snapped in a flurry of shards and specks.
The girl I knew
covered in glass and cuts and bruises
looked to see that the boy was lost.
She was left with a broken box
For a moment the girl sat
free yet numb
then she began to feel the sting of the glass.
The girl slowly began to pull the pieces out.
Bit
by
bit
the girl worked to finish freeing herself from the glass box.
She wiggled
Tugged
And yanked
until each shard was freed from her skin
she rubbed the feeling back into her feet
And bandaged her cuts
at last stood
weak on her feet
She was covered in cuts
Scratches
and bruises
and limped when she walked
but still she set out
In search of the beautiful boy and the sweet summer sun
Leaving the box behind
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