War was hell. So was Andersonville Prison. Justice lay curled on her side on the dank, roach-infested floor. She inhaled a short breath, trying to keep from breathing too deeply when waste of all sorts and colours lined every square inch of the place. How had it come to this?

Horns blared and tires squalled, then Avery collided with a bumper and went down. Her breaths reverberated in her ears as she all but kissed the cool cement, trying to get her bearings. She had no time to be dizzy, no time to be weak—no time to be in pain! Someone was yelling at her. Another horn blared. Avery pushed up her knees, trembling. She wasn’t ready for this.

Pain only shows us we've lost something that was intimately involved in our lives. Why on earth would we do anything other than grieve, when something that was apart of us, is ripped away?

But I think it is so important to not rush the process of grief- & I do not mean moping & wallowing. There's a difference, & often the three get mixed into the same cake & presented as- SELFISH (& often times self-inflicted) AGONY. Not the same thing.

I know good things have happened, don't mistake an expression of pain for a lack of thankfulness.

I was walking along one day and smacked into this wall called hope deferred and depression and...grief. And it wouldn't budge. After some time, I realized this darkness I'd found myself in was called grief. I'd been through so much trauma, everything about me- including my body, emotions and soul, was shutting down and going into preservation mode. I entered a season where the battle caught up with me and I realized just how badly I'd been beaten and torn up, inside and out.

I despise my humanity, Alex,” he whispered, drawing a shaky breath. “My…fallibility. I wasn’t…” He blinked, sending a torrent of tears down his face. “I wasn’t there for her like I said I would be.” Alex squeezed his shoulder. “Your best, your human best, doesn’t include guarantees.

Getting shot wasn’t an issue of skill; it was an issue of chance. And Justice had a bullet-sized issue of chance lodged in her shoulder.

Justice moaned, feeling herself drifting. Falling. With no one to catch her.

Crying isn't so bad. I mean, I have a sister..." He paused, and she had the distinct impression he was debating whether or not he should elaborate. On what, Ellie wasn't sure. "And I cry all the time," he said, his voice slightly higher pitched than it usually was. "You do?" Ellie ventured, her voice sounding muted from crying. "Well, it's been a while...and by 'a while', I mean about two days,