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by Violet

When the girl stumbles into your life with eyes that glitter and blood stained lips that demand to be kissed, do not love her; look past the sparkles and shades, the cashmere scarves and stilettos sharp as needlepoint. Do not fall for her innocent smile and demure demeanor, she is not an open book that is safe for you to read. She will trap you with her words and steal the breath from your lungs for comic relief. She will smell like a poisonous flower, sickeningly sweet, and the scent will linger long after she leaves you for another. She will leave them too.

Do not mistake her for your happy ending, do not seek to understand what you cannot begin to comprehend. Do not follow her footsteps when she remembers how to run. You will trip and bones will break, and she won’t have the patience to stay by your side while they mend. Do not call her baby, or sweetheart, or darling. She will laugh at your amateur attempts to lure her into intimacy, and the taste of betrayal from old lovers will cut like ice and you will freeze.

You’re not the one she wants, not even the one she needs. Do not give her the chance to break your heart in her lonely quest for vengeance.

But when the girl comes to you, hiding tears behind her lashes, grant her mercy and show her the path that leads to forgiveness. A monster stole her happiness and left her with a rotting body and a decaying heart; but she is a survivor, she will find peace.