Pineda 1

Ofelia Pineda

Professor Smith

ENGL 1021.96

26 Sept. 2022

A Heart’s Boundary Now Broken

I can still recall the day when Ms. Colombo had reached out to me during a time of

despair. When I believed that I was not worthy of being known as a person, her simply

comforting me during a difficult time helped me understand that I was just as worthy of being

befriended as anyone else would be.

It was a rather cold and gloomy morning. The sickening aroma of eggs and bacon were

adrift in the air as I sluggishly crawled out of my covers and propped myself up with my right

arm atop my slightly damp pillow. While I gradually managed to sit myself upwards, I glanced

down at my trembling feet as I could feel the sting of my eyes well up with tears.

It was time.

The silence of my room began to be audibly painted with muffled sobs.

Many days of anticipation had passed prior to this moment in time that, for me, felt like

an eternity. Encapsulated by the suffocating hold of anxiety, I held my breath, counted to 10, and

exhaled a sigh that temporarily rid my chest of the heaviness residing in my heart.

Being schooled online for 8 years of my life had clearly taken a toll on my mental.

Learning at your own pace is nice, but… school doesn’t exactly teach you about the most

efficient ways to manage your time, although they always emphasize its importance.

I never got many opportunities to connect with people my age in person, either.
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As a result, I was chronically distracted and fell behind on my work, so my parents

encouraged me to make the decision of spending my final year of middle school someplace new.

Clumsily wiping tears away with my trembling hands, I mustered up the strength to kick

off my bedsheets and roll out of bed.

For the first time in my life, breakfast had never been so nauseating. The rest of my

family gave me a concerned look as I poked and prodded around at the loose grains of rice on

my plate. Holding back tears, I hesitantly chewed on cold pieces of eggs and bacon, ignoring

how each spoonful I swallowed made my empty stomach churn. I was almost ashamed of how

there was still food left on my plate, as I was normally a spotless eater.

I splashed my face with cold water to freeze away any leftover anxiety from breakfast.

With the lights off, I stared at the mirror, desperately looking for a reason to stop getting so

worked up. As I touched up my outfit and hair one last time, I used my remaining energy to

hastily make my way to the car.

I clutched my backpack to my chest while staring at the sky, still overcast. The chilly air

eventually crept its way to my body, which left me shivering the rest of the car ride to school.

My feet met the slightly damp sidewalk, and I took in the sights of an unusually small

building that called itself a school. After being welcomingly greeted by the line of teachers

waiting by the entrance, I made my way towards the empty classroom that was soon to be filled

with students I was anxious to meet. After curiously pacing around through the silent space, I

found a little hiding spot that was labeled as the “break room.” Ornamented with various fidgets

and coloring sheets on the shelves, I shut the door behind me and found a spot in the corner for

me to hide. I snatched a block of rubber cheese from the fidget box to twiddle my fingers with as

I sat in silence.
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Finally, I was alone. My folded body rested against the wall neighboring the door, hiding

from the small panel of light that shone through the wooden opening. I held my knees to my

chest, and buried my face in my arms, hoping that the dismissive voices in my head would go

away. Laughter and chatter could be heard within the classroom outside, which amplified those

voices further through echoes of false implication.

“You don’t belong here.”

Stop.

“What a pathetic way to deal with your emotions.”

It’s not like I have another choice.

“Why are you running away?”

Please just leave me alone.

The rubber cheese I was fidgeting with seconds ago had fallen to the floor as I clutched to

my knees even tighter, my crouched body shriveling up in response to a monster that I couldn’t

even see. I felt myself succumbing, spiraling into a rabbit hole of false truths that my mind

would inject into my heart, which spread through my body like poison. With my eyes wide open,

I defensively held my arms against my ears, my hands clawing through my hair, when suddenly-

The door creaked open.

“Ofelia?”

I could feel my eyes slowly dilate back and forth as light began to overtake the shadows of the

little storage room. The silhouette of a tall, slender figure gently engulfs the warm sunlight

creeping in. Although my eyes were still glued to the floor, the sight of her subtly curled hair was

just shy of my field of vision.

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I felt a hand gently placed atop my shoulder, warmth radiating within the touch. Unable

to say a word, I trembled as my eyes slowly found its way to meet lovely orbs of hazel.

As soon as I looked up, I found myself in a warm embrace, which completely caught me

off guard.

“It’s okay to cry.”

Her voice was reminiscent of the warmth only my bed could give after a long day, and

the arms that she wrapped around me slowly warded off the rainclouds residing in my head. The

scent of faint lavender filled the air as I could feel my eyes begin to overflow through silent,

muffled sobs. Slowly, I could feel the weight in my heart dissipate as the warm light from the

classroom began to illuminate the shadows, as was her gentle presence with the shadows that

shrouded around my mind.

After pulling away from the embrace I briefly sought comfort in, Ms. Colombo took my

hand and helped escort me back to the classroom. Though I was still trembling from the episode,

the welcoming sight of each student’s smiles and excitement made me realize that, maybe this

first year won’t be so bad after all.

Without my lovely teacher’s intervention, this memory would have been engraved in my

psyche as a painful recollection of my flawed state of mind. Though it may be true that people

may not always be present in every instance you are in despair, a single encounter is enough to

sever the rift between your heart, and hearts of others. Words do not necessarily have to be

exchanged to break that invisible barrier set by the haunting voices of anxiety. Sometimes,

simply going out of your way to acknowledge someone when they do not feel seen is enough to

shatter the mind’s boundaries of darkness and light.