this one's before the healing | Adriana RoCale

a letter to you

My name is Adriana RoCale. I am 15 years old at the moment and have attempted to cherish every single second of it as possible. When it comes to things I'm interested in, only a small amount of things come to mind- whether it be a long term interest or short. However, one that has always stood out since I was a young girl, was writing. Once upon a time, when I was about 9 or 10 years old, I picked up a pencil and for the very first time, I wrote a poem. It was a poem based off the Holocaust, a topic I was learning in school and read about. I was assigned to write something about it and I chose poetry, Little did I know, but years later I would consider that decision to be what set the foundation for a love I would hold since then and most likely for the rest of my life. I'll never forget the first time I read it out loud to my fellow classmates and teacher, and never will I forget the rewarding I received for my work shown in cheers. Moments like that: when you receive positive recognition for something you love to do, is what can alter your life forever.

Ever since, I have loved writing. My teachers and classmates have congratulated my work on numerous occasions, and each time I felt a sense of pride- the good kind. The kind that makes you feel happy, even happy about yourself, like for once in your life you don't mind being you. It's the kind of pride that brings acceptance into who you are and I have loved that feeling every time.

Believe me, I've tried to write novels before, a ton of them actually but my heart was never truly in it. To be able to keep up with something for that long, to keep consistent with it is no easy task and wasn't something I could foolhardily enjoy. (Congratulations to yourself, if you can.) Nevertheless, my love for writing was still there, it just took me a while to realize what worked best for myself.

I found that thing that worked best for me about a month ago when I was assigned in my seminar class to write a short story. A short story about anything I want, about 3 to 5 pages and no longer. I had waved off the assignment until last minute, my procrastination almost winning. Truth is, I didn't want to receive a zero so instead, my worried little fingers quickly typed on a google doc, a small sentence that popped into my head that very moment completely out of the blue:

"He wasn't afraid."

That sentence, a small sentence that surfaced into my clustered mind, while the anxiety in my bones causing my brain to scatter into every little corner and crevice, is what started the first short story I wrote of which would uncover all the rest I've kept hidden not knowing of their existence- not knowing of what they can do.

So... here they are. All the words jumbled in my head brought together to create something that can make you feel. Whether it be feeling again or feeling more, whatever you'd like to call it- whatever will suck you in to the world brought to the light of day,

Here it is, clearly typed up:

All the things I'd never say.

Sincerely,

Adriana