You broke me.

I used to laugh and smile at every little thing. I was happy all the time. My mom said I brought sunshine to everybody's life. Until you dug your claws into me.

At first, it was like a scratch. I barely felt anything. Still, I knew something was there. I tried to put a bandaid over it and cover it up. Just pretend it didn't exist. Little glances at you over lunch. Noticing how your eyes crinkled when you laughed. Your sense of humor. That scratch was nothing.

But soon, it grew into a cut. I bled some. The blood oozing out of me like the innards of an ice cream sandwich on a hot day. Dripping... dripping. You tore my stitches out. The way you said my name, making my heart beat a little faster each time. How you touched me like I was special to you. Your eyes on me, chewing at my bottom lip, nervous. The way you looked hungry, like the sight of me wasn't enough. That cut? It was nothing.

When you first latched onto me, I reveled in the torment. The hot, burning pain searing through my chest made me feel alive. It was the first time in my life I had felt something that powerful. And head over heels, I fell. Tumbling... tumbling. Tripping down a flight of stairs and breaking every bone in my body would have been less painful. Because at first, I welcomed you, I welcomed the agony. But that was nothing.

Later, you dug into me, your talons finally reaching my heart. They twisted and tore, ripping and shredding my source of life. Blood leaked from my wounds, falling to the ground like puddles in a rainstorm. All I saw then was red. The passion and desire overtaking every part of my being. Though the torture shook my entire body, weakening me to the core, this was nothing.

Ripping my heart from my chest had to be the highest peak of my agony. Shocked I stood, reaching for what used to be my humanity. My courage. My empathy. My dignity. But it had left, and now sat in your claws, torn and bloody - a mutilated mess. Defeated, I toppled over, letting the ground caress me. I couldn't move, couldn't breathe. Slowly the colors began to fade, turning everything black and white, dwindling until my sight finally vanished. And there I stayed, for days, weeks, months.... years. Unmoving, ridden with misery and grief. Desolation. The emptiness inside of me growing.

Until one day... A little light fell from the sky and landed where my heart used to be. There a flower grew, blossoming and stretching for the stars. That was when I finally found the strength to stand on my feet. It was slow at first, recovery is a tricky thing. The rehabilitation of my life, my emotions, my body, was time-consuming and sluggish. Barely moving with each tick of the clock. But I can see the finish line in this long race. For I am no longer injured.

You broke me.

But I am healed.