"When she feels like the world ignores her, it’s as if she’s screaming into an empty void. Her voice fades into echos, but no one hears. She walks through crowds, surrounded by faces and yet she feels unseen. It’s not that she craves constant praise, but sometimes, just the smallest acknowledgment – a kind glance, a word – is out of reach.

There are times when she wonders about the silence. Is she not smart enough, too plain, too quiet, not remarkable or popular enough? Or perhaps the world is too burdened, too busy, by its own noise to notice her as an individual. She tells herself that everyone carries their own struggles, unseen battles. But understanding that doesn’t fill the emptiness, the loss, the trauma, the grief, which are still there, the gnawing sense of irrelevance that grips, when it seems like she doesn’t matter in the endless, chaotic swirl of existence.

She questions why she should keep trying to connect, when there is no hand in return. It’s draining to pour out pieces of her heart, her thoughts, her feelings – only to watch them dissolve unnoticed into the vastness. Sometimes, she retreats, choosing to fade further into the background where she already knows she belongs. She's comfortable there.

Yet, even in the quiet, a small ember of hope flickers. Maybe someone does care but struggles and doesn’t know how to show it. Maybe her presence is seen in ways she cannot perceive, or understand. Or perhaps the world’s indifference is urging her to find herself first, to recognise her own worth, before expecting the world to do the same."

Ilana Estelle