nga

people STARE so, she whispers.
i look around the platform. she is right.
but the rest of the world doesn't know, as i do, that time has merely sighed since the night that a careless driver sent her, and her bicycle, flying through the air to a future unimaginable.
it doesn't matter, she consoles.
she has come to understand that it happened for a reason. she has found solace in religion, and resignation. god has plans, and she is an intrinsic part of them. her heart has been opened.
that is her truth.
she plucks at her sleeve, smiling a smile so radiant it hurts. she quotes romans chapter 14, and reassures me that she has forgiven all neglect.
she asks, for the third time, where i work these days.
i'm not beautiful anymore, she murmurs.
oh, i say, but you ARE.
and that is my truth.