The things she Never said

The things she never said ; chapter two

Chapter Two — Away From Her Mother's Arms

Her uncle had a family.

He had his wife.

He had their only child.

And then there was Matilda.

A little girl who had come from another home and was now living in theirs.

Matilda already had a mother.

Her mother was somewhere far away, while her little girl was growing up without her.

Perhaps that was what made everything harder.

Matilda knew what a mother's love was supposed to feel like. She knew there was someone in this world she could call her mother—someone whose arms were supposed to feel like safety.

But her mother wasn't there.

Matilda was in another home.

And the woman there wasn't her mother.

Still, she hoped she would care for her.

She hoped she would treat her kindly.

She hoped that, somehow, she would feel like she belonged.

But instead, she was maltreated by her.

Matilda was only a child. She didn't have the words to explain everything she felt.

A child doesn't always know how to describe pain.

Sometimes, all a child knows is that something hurts.

Sometimes, all she knows is that she wants her mother.

And perhaps there were moments when Matilda wished she could run back home.

Back to her parents.

Back to the place where she knew she belonged.

Back to her mother's arms.

But home was far away.

And Matilda had to remain there.

So she endured.

Day after day.

Month after month.

Year after year.

She grew older in a place where she was supposed to be cared for, but instead learned how painful it could be to live without the warmth and protection of her own mother.

The house had people in it.

But that didn't mean Matilda never felt alone.

And somewhere along the way, she began changing.

The child she had been before leaving home slowly became quieter inside.

She learned to carry things without saying them.

She learned that sometimes a person could be hurting and still have to keep going.

And the little girl who should have been spending those years simply being a child was learning how to survive her childhood.