There’s this

girl with blond hair and

ocean eyes and

legs so long they go on for miles, the kind of legs

that could get you where you’re going.

Every morning she puts on

her face: foundation, blush,

mascara

easy as 1,2,3 or A,B,C, she could do it

with her eyes closed

and every

morning she takes a big

gulp of air and stands in front of the mirror and tells herself

“don’t worry”

silently, of course, because

if she says it out loud

her words might cling together and drift into the sky, forming a big black cloud that follows her

around and whispers her secret.

If she says it out loud it might become true.

And if it’s true, people

might start treating her different,

special.

Because we’re so afraid of mental illness, so afraid of

anybody different

that if she started telling people, “I have

anxiety,”

her friends might not see her the same, she might have a hard time

dating,

making friends might become nearly

impossible, all because

mental illness is taboo

is wrong

is scary.

Even though the statistics show that

1 in 5 Americans

live with mental illness of some shape or form.

1 in 5.

But it’s still

abnormal, uncommon, and

freakish.

So this girl, with ocean eyes and

long legs

will go on hiding, covering up her anxiety and her worries

to maintain her sense of

normalcy.