Stolen
April 17, 2025•465 words
I think about how I grew up so fast.
Not because I wanted to—but because I had to.
They said,
"You’re so mature for your age,"
as if that was something to be proud of.
But they never saw the cost of that maturity—
how I traded lullabies for silence,
toys for responsibilities,
childhood dreams for adult worries
before I even knew how to spell childhood.
I have always been more than what I needed to be
what I wanted to be.
A child with grown-up expectations.
A soft heart hardened by survival.
The...
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