She thought she was healing
because the tears had stopped.
She laughed again.
Answered messages again.
Started saying "I'm okay"
without forcing a smile afterward
So she assumed the pain was over.
Then one random night,
while everyone else was asleep,
her chest suddenly felt heavy again...
and she found herself crying in silence
like the wound had never left.
That's the cruel thing about emotional pain.
It doesn't always leave loudly.
Sometimes it hides in quiet places until
something small touches the part of you
that never fully healed.