She looks up from the porcelain sink to see the reflection of a girl. Her face is drained of color and her lips tremble. She wipes at her mouth, trying to erase what she has just done. The reflection stares back at her with critical eyes. Those judgmental, icy blue eyes taunt her. They scream, “You will never be good enough!” “You are a waste of space!” “No one will ever love you!” Her eyes are like a funhouse mirror; for when she gazes upon herself all she sees is an obese, unattractive person. A silent tear slides down her cheek and she spins away from the mirror; no longer able to look at the image. She turns the faucet on to wash down the rest of what she ate and leaves the horrible tragedy behind her.

            There is power in acceptance. For if we are accepted by those around us, we feel loved, and love is all we search for in life, whether we are conscious of it or not.

            Her body is shrinking under her clothes and her family begins to worry. Although she denies, she cannot hide. She thinks she has control. She thinks she has power; power over her body to control what she looks like, but her power is slipping away with every step she takes down her destructive road. She can barely stand or think because she has lost so much weight, yet her peers relentlessly mock her. They laugh at her baggy clothes saying she is hiding a chubby body under the sweatshirts she wears constantly. She is overwhelmed by all the pressures and pains. She just needs a release, so tonight she will take her father’s razor because starving herself does not seem to end her suffering. She cannot see another way around this hell she has been living; she still has the power to end her suffering. She will take the razor in her hand and cut. As her life bleeds away, so does her power.

           Her parents will find her and weep for their lost daughter whose problems they did not know about. Her parents feel powerless; their grief and devastation consumes them; it eats away the dreams they had for their daughter, leaving them utterly alone. No parent wants to experience the immense pain and grief of losing their child, so they will utilize their power. They will make it known to the world that eating disorders kill; the problems behind the eating disorders can easily be solved. It doesn’t have to end the way it did for their daughter.