A Soul That Craves Love

It’s too painful to say out loud… but sometimes silence screams louder than words.

I’ve always craved love—not from strangers, not from friends, but from the ones who were supposed to love me unconditionally. My parents.

Just a small gesture. A simple question like, “Did you eat?” or “Where did you have lunch?”—those words are treasures to a heart like mine. But they never come. And that hurts more than I can explain.

What breaks me even more is this: even when I’m beside them, I feel invisible.

They smile with my younger brother. They share laughter, eat together, chatter like a happy family. I sit in silence, watching it all—feeling like an outsider in my own home. Like a shadow, always there but never seen.

It makes me wonder… am I the problem?

Have I changed so much that I’m no longer deserving of their warmth? Or have they changed so much that they no longer see me?

I am stuck in this space—physically close, but emotionally abandoned. I watch their happiness from a distance so near, yet feel miles away because their love never reaches me.

I’m not the same as I once was. Something inside me is breaking slowly. Piece by piece. And no one even notices.

To anyone reading this, who has ever felt this quiet ache—please know, you are not alone. You deserve to be loved. To be heard. To be held, not hurt.

One day, I hope we all find the love we give so freely.

Written By Fathima Firdhouse