To My Midnight Witness

Dear Delyara, To the pillow that caught my tears at 3:00 AM: Thank you for being my only witness. There is a specific kind of bravery in crying quietly so you don't wake the house. You hold it all in during the day—the stress, the fear, the feeling of being "less than"—and then it all comes out in the dark. I’m leaving those tears here in the archive. I don't want to carry them into tomorrow.