He watched her last shudders as she drifted off to sleep, and his thoughts turned to the voices in h
He watched her last shudders as she drifted off to sleep, and his thoughts turned to the voices in her head. He knew them. He could name them. He understood them. There were the usual, mostly trivial things–“You’re fat. You’re ugly. You’re weak.” All women, and all men, carried that burden. But he knew there were other, much darker, things in this girl’s head–voices that said things like “What a joke. You will never be worth anything. All you do is fuck things up. You are not good enough and you never will be. Why should you even try? You fail at everything you try to do. He is wasting his time with you, making a mistake, and he will figure it out soon…” And he knew that wasn’t the worst of it. He knew these voices had whispered to her every minute, for years upon years, and they had carved ragged scars in her soul–the damage was right there for anyone who knew how to look. He knew that you could not reason with these voices, for they did not speak of reason. This was not the part of her brilliant mind that knew logic, math and reason. No, it was another brain–An ancient, dark and terrible power who speaks in images of shattered bone and dripping flesh, rasp of tiger claw on stone, conjuring unnamed terrors in the darkness beyond the campfires. Yes, that was it–the voice of terror and darkness. There would be no reasoning with this voice. He knew what these thoughts did to her, but he also knew he was not entirely powerless against them. They could be held off; he could stand guard and protect her from the worst. In time, with love and support, she would grow strong. In time, but, for now, she hurt. So, he wrapped her up, held her close, and resolved to fight as long is it took. His last thoughts that night were of the day when he would see something new on her face–how she would smile, and the freedom of her laugh when she knew those voices for what they were–lies… all lies. But, for now, she hurt. -- source link
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