sometimes smiling is painful

Once there was a little girl. She had such dreams and wishes and potential, but she was scared of what the future would bring. But she kept going even through the difficult times, experiencing both the good and the bad. As times progressed, things got better, but worse in many ways, ways that tore her apart inside. And she could do nothing to change the situation because it was based on the choices of other people, not her own. Her life was going well, it seemed as though everything was in place as it should be, but there was so much still missing. And although she knew what she needed to do to change those things, she felt powerless to do so. And so she rocked herself to sleep at night with dreams of what she wanted most but feared would never be.