Everyone always uses the old saying: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me." And since I was a child, I always found this saying almost insulting. Like I was being told that people can't hurt me by their words, like I wasn't allowed to have people upsetting me. Like it was my choice, just like laughing. When someone laughs, they can't help it, just like they can't help being upset, no matter how suppressed the sadness is, it is always there.
There was this girl that I used to be friends with. Every time that I would go to the local park to meet my friends she would be there. Once I heard some people (I didn't know them) shouting at her, being nasty for no visible reason. I walked over and asked what was happening, when I threatened them and made them stop, they wondered away. She was clearly hurt by their words but simply looked up to me and spoke that one awful phrase: Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me. She smiled as though trying to cover up the emotions spread over her face, though of course it didn't work.
A few days after this I was told the news... She was gone, and it was all their fault. Those that had bullied her had murdered her, and rather brutally at that. Though they did leave a note. and this is what it said:
Sticks and stones do break your bones. That's why we used them.
She was taught to be positive and to not let people get to her, but if that pushes them over the edge... You could end up like her. Positivity isn't always the best answer, sometimes it's best to be sad. Sometimes it's best to let them get to you. Sometimes it's best to cry.