Before I was discarded for the final time on the doorstep of this place, I had been treated as a hand me down.

A pushover that no one wanted and needed to get rid of, but I was happier then. The rules were never as strict, the punishments nowhere near as brutal, and no unkind word was ever spoken to me above a whisper.

Things changed after I felt the cane for the first time.

Spare the rod and spoil the child extends far greater than anyone can know inside the walls of Our Lady of Heavenly Hope—a place where no such thing exists, and if it does, it died inside of me such a long time ago that I can't remember what it feels like.

The halls have gone silent lately and I like it best this way.

I'll learn to be kind again and I'll bestow it on the person that needs it the most.

And in the end, everything will be okay.