She sits alone, to be out of sight.  Unheard.

She hides behind the booming voices of unorganized chatter.  Screeching people.

Her desk makes a noise.  They notice.  She blushes.

Who is she?  What drives her?  What have her eyes seen…her ears heard?

The girls laugh, poke fun; talk about her. 

They don’t understand her.

When she tries to speak or respond, only a soft nervous phrase slips out.

She hates that this happens.

She tries to speak up but something stops her.

A cage around her heart.  The feelings can’t be articulated.

Nights are very difficult for this little girl.

Mom and dad yell while her brother kicks and screams.

Her head hurts.

Her chest is tight.

She goes into her room, sits on her bed and writes.

She writes about her pain, her withdrawal from others, and her insecurities.

She wishes she could reach out to someone, but she can’t.

Her friends are nonexistent and the pressure inside pushes tears out of her eyes.

It hurts too much to live…

The next day she walks into the classroom.

Her heart rate increases, she looks down, and scrambles to her seat.

Today is different though.

Everyone is studying and working with one another.

The teacher walks by with a grin on her face.

Kindly puts her hand on the little girl’s shoulder and says, “what do you like to do for fun?”

The little girl is puzzled at the randomness of the question.

She turns red.

Then thinks.

Then answers.

Dialogue opens.

Does someone care?

Someone cares.

The other students see that and start to grow curious.

The little girl is a person, with feelings, and someone showed interest.

They’re interested now too.

Because it takes just one person.

And if students and teachers in our country just made one gesture, maybe other students would too.

Maybe, just maybe, that quiet person in the back of the room will feel like a somebody.

And maybe that somebody will start to see his/her life as something special.

And maybe that something special can encourage this somebody to live….and to thrive.

Bullying, neglect, shootings, and suicides are happening far too often. 

Be the person to stop these occurrences by making someone not feel so alone.

But to feel connected.  Noticed.  Heard.

Worth it.