17/03/2026
For years, the way I was spoken to… was the norm I had grown used to
I was always sharp with jokes, playful with words, busy… here and there… everywhere
That was how I lived…
My nature…
My personality…
It was… accepted
Until the day it was no longer “acceptable.”
Harsh, humiliating words started coming my way… subtly hidden in a joke
Over time, the jokes became comparisons… demeaning comparisons
And in the end… I no longer knew the difference between a compliment and an insult
In my mind, they were all just words…
Words that were spoken…
Shouted…
Sometimes even sung…
Then actions began to take on a voice of their own
A car window smashed…
Dents kicked in…
Things broken…
Never my body, thank God… but the violence came to live in the same room where the words already stayed
Today I know:
I was the recipient of verbal and emotional abuse
Why did I say nothing?
Because it was accepted…
Friends accepted it…
Family accepted it…
New acquaintances stayed quiet… turned away… and accepted it too…
And I know your eyes move over my words as I now lay everything down in black and white…
Until the day I stood up and said:
Enough
And suddenly…
I became the villain…
… Because I had danced on the thin line of patience
… Because I had played with fire
… Because I had been “content” with the chapter
No…
I ran.
At 100 km per hour… when the door to a new beginning, as dark as it was, opened… I ran!
Clutching what mattered in my arms… throwing my sneakers against the tar!
At last, it was no longer my sunrise and my sunset…
I promised myself I would never be in such a situation again…
Long, lonely nights followed… days filled with “What now?”
High walls were built, and me, myself and I… together with my little ducks… were born anew
Then I realized… abuse lives everywhere… in forms most people are not even aware of.
We all walk daily under the blows of a society that sometimes chooses not to see.
Abused…
when those who could help you turn a blind eye… deny it and walk away
Abused…
when agreed decisions are twisted at the will of others, and you must accept it… quietly, even under pressure.
Abused…
when the truth is smothered in a cloud of color, with gossip trailing behind, excited in the retelling
And that fairytale…
of a rescuer on a white horse…?
No…
Look in the mirror…
Every morning…
Look your knight in the eyes…
and push the biggest smile from ear to ear!!
I want to say:
“Forgive me when I stand up for myself… when I no longer tolerate degrading words and actions… when I remove myself…”
But I won’t say it…
Because I will no longer apologize for my reaction to you… the person, the society, the so-called “I know her” circles… and your abuse.
No person on this earth has the right to decide how I should feel after the low blows of a bully!!
And so…
my story continues…
Without you… who thought I would be your next punching bag!!