It started with a creak

Just a small one

Right below their eye

 

Nothing that big

Nothing that important

At least, not to everyone else

 

But to them, it was a punch in the stomach

This mask that they’ve made

And perfected

Keeps them safe

Only to be damaged by one thing

Just a small one

A word just thrown in their face

 

Reject

 

Nothing that big

Nothing that important

It’s just one little word

I can’t do much harm, right?

 

Wrong

 

They say the pen is mightier than the sword

And that’s true in many ways

 

A sword hurts people now

A pen, which creates many things, can do so much more

It can create words, for one thing

And words are a powerful and dangerous tool

Words can shape new countries

Or destroy them

 

Words can lift someone higher

Or tear them down so fast

 

So one little words can do a lot

Certainly enough to create a crack

 

But, what’s going to happen if the words don’t stop

 

Ugly

Untalented

Worthless

Stupid

Burden

Freak

 

More and more cracks appear on that mask

Cutting so deep that the scars are there forever

 

The cracks keep appearing with each new word

Each new nasty comment

Each new hushed whisper behind hands

 

Until pieces of the mask are falling off

They’re desperately trying to hold on

To not break off

Not give in

 

But the words keep coming

Creating a whirlpool of

Cracking masks and losing hope

 

And then it happens

 

The final word strikes it target

So precise and hurtful

That it splits the arrow already there

 

The final piece of the mask

Their small smile

Crumbles into dust,

 

All that’s left is someone

Alone

Who doesn’t know who to trust

 

So the tears fall silently

Their mouth open

But no sound escapes their lips

 

They stand alone in the darkness

On legs that threaten to give out

Waiting for someone to save them

 

Someone to repair that smiling mask

But stays in the light

 

Or someone who is brave enough

To pull them out of the choking darkness

That darkness that the words have banished them to

 

The pen is mightier than the sword

Words are a dangerous weapon that cut into others with ease

And the masks we create are the shields

That we pray will protect us

 

So in this war that rages on our entire life

We can either choose to be afraid and send people to the dark

Or take a step and pull someone out