Tears

Damn it, she thought, looking at her tear-streaked cheeks and puffy, swollen eyes in the bathroom mirror. However much she scrubbed with soap and water, the tell-tale signs of her most recent breakdown refused to leave her face. Brimming with frustration, she threw down her towel and stared again at the mirror. Her parents were coming home soon; they couldn't see her like this...

"Why?" she demanded angrily. "Why can't I get rid of these marks? That would make things so much easier. If my parents were to know...no, they can't! They can't know that I've been...crying..."

Her words trailed off as realization hit her, shaking the core of her being with its clarity. She had lost faith in a Higher Power long ago, but if this thought wasn't religious, she didn't know what was. She gingerly touched her swollen eyes and voiced her thought aloud.

"These red eyes...and tear-streaked cheeks...are His way of telling others that I am sad, that I need them...to make sure...that I am never alone..."