Chapter 04 · 4 min 27 sec
If We Can't Say The Hard Truths
The weight of words never spoken — how silence can be its own kind of violence.
Lyrics· 372 words
The kitchen light was the only thing awake Half-drunk coffee, two shadows, one table The city was sleeping somewhere beyond the glass While we sat there, carefully avoiding the things that mattered Talking about weather, talking about work Talking round the wound like circling a fire
Neither of us willing to step through the smoke And I watched you searching for safer words While mine stayed buried beneath the dirt But if we can't say the hard truths, then what the hell are we doing here
What's the point of all these years, of all these nights, of all these tears If I can't hand you the pieces that I'm afraid to let you see Then tell me, what kind of love is this supposed to be We've become experts at surviving conversations
Masters of changing subjects, professional escape artists Smiling at the perfect moment, laughing at the right lines Building entire cities out of things we never say But silence grows like ivy on a wall
And one day, it owns it all If we can't say the hard truths, then what the hell are we doing here What's the point of all these years, of all these nights, of all these fears If I can't bring you the darkness and trust you'll stay with me
Then tell me, what kind of love is this supposed to be Maybe honesty isn't beautiful Maybe it arrives shaking, voice cracking, hands trembling Maybe courage isn't speaking loudly
Maybe courage is whispering, I need help I miss you, I'm scared, I was wrong I love you, before it's too late Built because life is shorter than we keep pretending
And hearts break from the words they never hear More than the words they do So let's say the hard truths Let's drag them into the light
Let's stop pretending everything's alright Let's risk the awkward silence Let's risk the pain, let's risk the storm instead of the distance If we're going to share this life, then let's really be here
Because if we can't say the hard truths, then what the hell are we doing here The coffee went cold, the city woke up And for the first time, neither of us looked away
*A story about the courage to speak*
Mateus and his best friend Rui had been inseparable since the age of six. They walked to school together. They shared lunch. They knew each other's secrets.
Then one Thursday, something happened that Mateus didn't know how to talk about.
Rui had shown everyone a drawing Mateus made — a funny cartoon of their science teacher — and everyone had laughed. Not meanly, exactly. But Mateus had made that drawing just for Rui, not for everyone, and when he saw people passing it around he felt something hot and tight in his chest.
He didn't say anything. He told himself it wasn't a big deal.
But it was.
The next week, he walked to school alone. He sat at a different table at lunch. When Rui looked at him confused, Mateus just shrugged and looked away.
Rui stopped trying after a few days.
Two weeks passed. Mateus told himself he was fine. He wasn't fine. He missed his friend so much that his lunch tasted like nothing, and mornings felt grey and long.
His older sister noticed. "What happened with Rui?" she asked.
"Nothing," said Mateus.
She gave him the look that meant she knew he was lying. "Has he apologised?"
"For what? I never told him what he did."
She was quiet for a moment. Then she said: "So you're punishing him for something he doesn't know he did?"
Mateus hadn't thought of it that way.
That evening, he wrote Rui a message. It took him four attempts. The first three were either too angry or too apologetic. The fourth one said: *You shared my drawing without asking and it hurt my feelings. I should have said so instead of disappearing.*
He stared at it for ten minutes. Then he sent it.
Rui replied in two minutes: *I didn't think. I'm really sorry. Can we talk?*
They talked for an hour.
Later, Mateus thought about how much time he had wasted being silent. The silence had felt like protection, but it was really just loneliness wearing a disguise.
The truth was hard to say. But the truth was also the only door back to where he wanted to be.
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*The words that are hardest to say are usually the ones that matter most.*
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