She wanted it to stop.  The voices that drowned her thoughts, flooded her head every single day. They told her what to or what not to do and she was tired of it. She wanted to be free.  Free to think for herself, free to do as she pleased, free to be Karen.  You know the best person you can be is you, but that is something she could never do.  She placed society so high on her list that she lost sight of her true self.  Conforming and molding her body, her mind, her soul so much that when she looked in the mirror she couldn’t even recognize herself.  She lost sight of her dreams and started this new persona slowly but surely diminishing her identity.  Who was she? Every place she looked to bring back her once thriving soul seemed to drain it a little bit more.  It wasn’t in the booze, it wasn’t in the drugs, and it wasn’t in the money. She had lost herself.  As time went on she finally turned twenty-three which is the age she thought she’d finally be free.  But you know, life has a funny way of laughing in your face when you finally get a little taste of what it has to offer.  She was born with a silver spoon but because of her ailments it was taken from her a little too soon.  Karen had finally hit rock bottom and as if it couldn’t get any worse she started to face a new problem. And as her tummy started growing, she knew that she would soon start showing.  She had watched this one movie and found out that hangers weren’t only used for clothes, but being rushed to the hospital was when she finally decided to fold.  She was tired. And as she laid there she heard a voice, “Do Not Give Up” it said, and she cried.  He was there, the one person that would love her no matter her flaws. He was there, to lead her and guide her to the light.  She had found herself in Him.  So she ended her life of sin. Karen had finally won, and she got to keep her little son… 

– Olamide Iyaomolere