She buried them deep, but not deep enough for her to simply forget. It was well hidden from others but it was shallow enough for her to dig up easily. Many times people came over and many times she wanted to tell them. To show them her own box. A Pandora's box of gritty darkness, confusion, pain, and longing. It was the fear of judgment that got the better of her. It was the fear that they would no longer look at her the same that stopped. Maybe that's why her relationships felt flimsy, felt fake and it was difficult for her to connect truly. It was raw, yet not too recent of a wound. But it didn't heal. She could almost feel the maggot underneath, festering and thriving. Ugly. She was so ugly. She never stopped feeling ugly. She never stopped feeling unworthy.