In her tireless quest for self-sufficiency, she built a fortress around her heart, laying each brick with care. Every stone symbolized a lesson learned in solitude—a healed scar, a shed tear, a moment of vulnerability sealed away. She believed impenetrability equaled strength, that needing no one meant being invincible.

Yet the very wall meant to protect her became a barrier to connection, wounding those who reached out in love. Friends grew bruised against her silence, retreating hurt. In the echoes of their absence, she recognized the pain she had caused. True strength, she realized, lay not in isolation but in daring to be open. And so, with trembling hands, she began to dismantle her wall—brick by brick—ready to rediscover the beauty of connection.

©️ Beatriz Esmer