It's easy to pass her by. She doesn't look like much. She gets off looks when she doesn't respond to the everyday questions. When she just nods or shakes her head or points. Because of her small size and shy mannerisms, people sometimes mistake her for a child.
But she isn't. She has so much to say. A lifetime of thoughts, melding in that demure frame.
But if she were to open her mouth, that would be the end of things. There is, within her, a power terrible and absolute. Something she does not yet understand how to direct or control. Something yearning to get out.
And each day, as she passes by the world and all its glittering wonder and rank injustice, the urge to speak grows louder. It is only a matter of time before she sees something too awful to ignore. Then we'll all hear what she has to say.
Paddy Dobson
25th March 2022