Haley

“Rape wounds deeply, splits open
your core with shrapnel.
The stench of the injury attracts maggots
which hatch into clouds of doubt and self-loathing
the dirt you feel inside you nourishes
anxiety, depression, and shame
poisoning your blood, festering
in your brain until you will do anything to stop
feeling the darkness rising within
anything
to stop feeling–

untreated pain
is a cancer of the soul
that can kill you”
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Shout

“This is not where our story ends, he writes. This is only where it changes.”
― Erin Morgenstern, The Starless Sea

“Men who start by burning books end by burning other men,”
― Yōko Ogawa, The Memory Police

“...each one's different. They have similar elements, though. All stories do, no matter what form they take. Something was, and then something changed. Change is what story is, after all.”
― Erin Morgenstern, The Starless Sea