Broken Mirror

<p>The first thing Alyssa ever learned was how to be quiet.</p><p>Not polite quiet.</p><p>Not shy quiet.</p><p>The kind of quiet that keeps you alive.</p><p>In her house words had consequences.</p><p>The wrong tone the wrong look the wrong breath - all could set off a storm.</p><p>So she learned to fold herself smaller to swallow the noise to stay invisible.</p><p>The mirrors in that house never told the truth.</p><p>They showed her what she was told to see - too much of one thing not enough of another.</p><p>Ugly. Loud. Unwanted.</p><p>So she stopped looking.</p><p>She didn't know the difference between safety and silence back then.</p><p>She just knew that both felt like not being touched not being noticed.</p><p>Until one night when silence wasn't enough to save her.</p><p>When she learned that even stillness can be hunted.</p><p>Years later when people said she was strong she'd laugh quietly to herself.</p><p>Strength wasn't a choice; it was survival dressed in exhaustion.</p><p>But now - now she was learning something new.</p><p>That maybe the cracks in her weren't ruins.</p><p>Maybe they were the proof she'd survived.</p><p>And for the first time in her life Alyssa didn't look away from her reflection.</p><p>She faced it - trembling but unbroken.</p><p>Because silence had spoken long enough.</p><p>Now it was her turn.</p><p> </p><p> </p>