Tales From The Mind of Thomas

“For the first time in my life, I felt comfortable enough to open up!” Wyatt burst out. “For the first time, I felt like someone would be able to understand, to listen. That I could express my pain!”

Wyatt stood there, tears brimming at the edges of his eyelids, pain piercing through his brown eyes. “I thought I would finally be able to cry,” he confessed. “But here I am, shouting! And I… just cannot cry.”

Wyatt felt his body shutting down, his mind blocking his emotions to protect him from pain. He felt embarrassed in front of Ashlie.

Ashlie stepped forward, her eyes filled with empathy. “Wyatt,” she said softly, “don’t think crying will make you a lesser man. But if you don’t feel comfortable crying right now, that’s okay too. Just talking is a huge step forward.”

Wyatt shook his head, frustration bubbling to the surface. “But I want to cry. I want to release the pent-up emotions inside my heart. I thought I could do it in front of you, but something inside me just won’t let me.”

Ashlie placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “You’ve been holding in these feelings for so long that it’s hard to let them out. It takes time, Wyatt. And it’s okay if you can’t cry right now. It doesn’t mean you’re not feeling the pain.”

He looked into her eyes, finding a glimmer of understanding he hadn’t seen in anyone else. “I’m so tired of feeling this way,” he admitted. “I don’t want to be alone anymore.”

“And you’re not alone,” Ashlie said firmly. “I’m here with you. We’ll get through this together.”

Wyatt took a deep breath, feeling a slight easing of the tension that had gripped him for so long. “Thank you,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “Thank you for being here.”

Ashlie pulled Wyatt close, gently wrapping her arms around him. The warm embrace shocked Wyatt, sending jolts of warmth through his body. He felt the walls he had built up for so long finally crumbling away. His eyes began to well up as tears cascaded down his cheeks. His legs gave out from underneath him as he clung to her, dragging them both to the floor. Ashlie held him tightly.

For the first time in years, Wyatt allowed himself to cry freely. He sobbed into Ashlie’s shoulder, releasing years of suppressed emotions. The pain, the loneliness, the fear—all of it poured out in a torrent of tears. Ashlie rocked him gently, offering comfort and reassurance.

Within that hug, Wyatt felt valued, loved, and appreciated—all things he deeply wished for. Time seemed to slow as he held her tightly, his tears flooding her shoulder like a rare desert monsoon. The comfort he found was like no other, a warm cocoon that sheltered him from his inner turmoil. As he continued to sob, the torrent of emotions gradually eased, and his tears began to slow, turning from desperate sobs to gentle weeping. In Ashlie’s arms, he felt a sense of peace and acceptance that he had longed for, a fragile hope blossoming within him that maybe, just maybe, he could start to heal.