I can't stop the tears from falling down my cheeks. The pain in my heart matches the ache in my bruises. I sit on the couch, watching a TV show where families laugh together, love each other, and support each other. It's like a different world, a world I'll never belong to.
I try to wipe away the tears, but they keep coming. The images on the screen blur as I cry silently, trying not to make any noise. I don't want my parents to hear me. I don't want them to know how much they've hurt me, how much they've broken me.
I look down at my arms, covered in bruises from my father's punishment. I can still feel the sting of his hand on my skin, the sharp pain of his words cutting me deeper than any physical blow. I know I shouldn't have cursed, I know I shouldn't have talked back, but sometimes the words just spill out before I can stop them.
I wish I could be like the families on TV. I wish I could have a mom who hugs me when I'm sad, a dad who protects me instead of hurting me. I wish I could have siblings to play with, to laugh with, to share secrets with. But that's not my reality. My reality is pain, fear, and loneliness.
I glance over at my drone friends, N, V, J, and Cyn. They hover silently in the corner, their lights blinking in a comforting rhythm. I know they can't hug me or wipe away my tears, but their presence is enough to soothe my broken soul. They're my only friends, my only confidants in this cold, cruel world.
I know I have to be strong. I have to keep up appearances, to act like the perfect little girl my parents want me to be. I have to smile through the pain, to pretend like everything is okay. But deep down, I know it's not. Deep down, I know I'm just a scared little girl, lost in a world that doesn't care about her.
As the TV show ends and the credits roll, I wipe away the last of my tears. I take a deep breath, steeling myself for the inevitable. Tomorrow will come, and with it, more pain, more fear, more loneliness. But for now, in this moment, I allow myself to cry. I allow myself to feel the sadness, the anger, the hopelessness.
Because even though I may never have a normal family, even though I may never know what it's like to be truly loved, I know one thing for certain - I am strong. I am resilient. And no matter what life throws at me, I will always find a way to keep going, to keep fighting, to keep believing that one day, things will get better.
And maybe, just maybe, that day will come. Until then, I'll hold onto my drone friends, my silent companions in a world that doesn't understand me. And I'll keep on dreaming of a better tomorrow, where the tears are replaced by laughter, the bruises are healed, and the pain is finally gone.