Tears And These Four Letters

• Alix Mcrae, Grade 11
• Short Story
• 2021

We call tears natural. Sometimes we even encourage them. Yet what make tears appear are considered quite the opposite. We clasp our hands tightly together in prayer to affirm such events will never make us create that salty river stream down our face.
By some, I am told I can cry. By others, I am told to be strong. Sorry. To be stronger. Alas, they are right. I cannot hope for tears as that would be simply psychotic, would it not? To ask for tears. To ask for sadness? Yet that is all I do as I let all that I have allowed myself to invest in run past my eyes. It was never my intent to be bounding myself to these tears I have now. Half the problem is the unbreakable ties between myself and how it began.
We began with a tear. A tear of joy. A tear of excitement. A new beginning.
Before it was a We, it was a broken tear. One that led to the dismissal of it being nothing more than four simple letters between two empty spaces. The problem was that I, myself, was not standing on even the edge of a letter. I was hiding in the stream that flowed within the empty. I had been so betrayed by the words surrounding these letters that it just became easier to hide in the empty. It was the words surrounding that destroyed these letters. Or more so, it was the abolition of these surrounding words that caused these letters’ destruction. Except, to you, these letters were saved. For that, I say thank you.
These letters given a whole new meaning, there was a tear. A tear of promise.
To you, whilst your surrounding words were being slowly erased, there was hope. Hope for these four letters. You defined these letters with words abnormal to me. It was this that finally permitted peace in the life of these four little letters. You helped me build a new understanding for my now four adored letters. Unfortunately, to you, these four letters where not your problem. It was the surrounding words that affected everything. You were forced to take refugee on these four letter, resulting in the ignorance from your fear.
Tears for your hope. Tears for your pain.
Due to this now formed ignorance you began to forget about my four letters. Whilst this was never your intent, the distinguishing line between my four letters and the four letters constructing tears became washed away. But I refuse to remove myself once again from my four letters. In doing so, the tides have begun to push and pull. The currents from the words are the ones pulling these four letters apart. Thus, I ask you to remember those surrounding words. For as long as they stay close to these four letters, our four letters cannot be washed away by a salty river of tears.
Regardless; I Love You.