-Spoken

[Words to Image. My take on a random picture. The story it screams is the story I write]

Lindy lived in a world of silence. She had no siblings. No friends. Her parents would forget about her the entirety of the day. If she was off busy doing anything, she wouldn't be a burden for them to address. With no one ever to talk to, she held her thoughts inside. They never made it past her teeth.

Lindy dreamed daily of a world outside of her quiet prison. She imagined tea parties and dances where everyone had to speak louder than the next to drown out the others. And a dance floor so crowded that elbows and heels were always bumping. She imagined the laughter in colors, each moment represented in a brushstroke. Each dance with its own unique fragrance. Stepping in cherry. A curtsy of lemon. She would spin to the smell of lavender and bow with the strawberries breath. Lindy would paint her world upon her body with hopes that if there were enough, it would become true. And then she could escape her voiceless entrapment and sing with the angels.

One day, Lindy found an old skull in the woods. She pulled it from a pile of fallen trees and began to study its surface. Never before had she seen such a thing but for whatever reason, she wasn't scared. The longer she held it, the more it gave her its attention. It simply stared at her which made her feel seen. She liked it.

Lindy started to talk with the skull, telling it all of the things she had kept locked away from the world. Once she tapped the chords of her soul, they sang, in perfect harmony. A lifetime of stories and questions poured out of her. And all the while, the skull simply stared ... and listened.

"One day, when I am older, I will leave this place," she said to it. "And then they will never stop me from talking. I swear this, Mr. Skull."

Lindy felt more alive than any other time in her life. She just needed someone to give her their time. Their undivided attention. She just needed someone to listen.

Lindy grew up. And she did exactly as she had promised. She went on to become a child abuse advocate, speaking worldwide for those who had no voice. She gained renowned recognition for what she did but never allowed it to steer her into something she wasnt, something larger than her cause. She always kept her focus on what was her calling ... speaking up for those silenced. Her drawings had finally become her world. And she had become them. Lindy's voice is in all of us. Tap the chords and let them sing. Someone is waiting for your voice.