Release...

She was only fourteen.

I listened as all the pain and frustration came pouring out of her.

Time spent trying to hold it all back had made it something thick and black and choking.

I could hear the desperation in her words.

My soul is weary and raw, she said.

Her eyes looked tired and haunted.

Years of anguish had taken its toll.

She wasn't crying because she wasn't strong.

She was crying because she'd had to be strong for so long.