Library... Of sorts.

Blank stares, blunt replies,
her youth buried beneath
years of self-doubt,
tightly shelved...

Yet his eyes
were able to photograph
an essence she'd forgotten
still lived within herself...

Rummaging through
chests of keys, dismantling locks,
clearing blocked dooorways...

His presence -
an unspoken promise
that he's willing to stay...

He studied the woman she needed the world to see..

Investigated the girl who was forced to mature, robbed of security..

Explored all she is, was and the potential that was fighting to be..

Convinced she was his dark, wild little library..

Cracking a smile
Choking on laughter
Feelings so foreign to what she knew..

Retreating to the comfort
Declining his invitation
It was her cue..

Her eyes nocturnal from being in the dark so long that the light his calling her to is so bright it's blinding.

If only she knew how quickly her eyes would adjust she may have been living a different reality, I enjoy fighting off other's demons but sometimes I just feel exhausted.


For the writing challenge…
https://similarworlds.com/literature/i-write/5636533-I-Challenge-You-to-Write-THE-WEEKLY-MUSE-August-10-2026-This

This week’s words:
Photograph
Promise
Doorway
Unspoken
Wild
Years
Stay