{ fragile as we are }

on the way home tonight, I sat next to a teenage boy who had scars and welts that ran from his wrist to his elbow. 

I nudged him and mouthed, “somebody cares,” because he had headphones on, and couldn’t hear me anyway. and he smiled, and when I asked him to stop hurting himself, he promised me that he wouldn’t anymore. because now he knows, somebody cares.

and on the way home tonight, I finally realized how huge an impact you can leave on somebody, even a stranger, even when you two only interacted for less than ten minutes, even though you two will probably never meet again - just because you cared.