A surprise ¬—
He would give her the world
if only she’d ask,
but how can she
if she doesn’t know she wants it?
She’s confused, unsure,
so she hides behind her mask of complacency
but looks back with regret
and longs to be free.

A dare —
He can free her
from the walls of her own
fear,
carefulness,
security.
He can challenge her
to live!
to feel the air rushing by as she plunges headfirst into the unknown!
to laugh!
to dance!
to scream!
to forget what the world thinks
and not be afraid.

A hand —
But she is afraid.
Her fortress
Her prison
is crumbling around her.
The sun is painful, blinding.
She stumbles, falls, bleeds.
She’s ready to trap herself again
because walls are safe
and that’s all she knows.
She needs to be shown that it’s okay,
that the warmth of the sun can feel good
that there’s nothing better than grass between your toes
and open sky above you,
that falling hurts less when there’s someone to catch you,
or someone to fall with you.