Before the “Broken Heart” there was another

The Young Heart

A young heart bursting with life

Love and energy

The “Young Heart” feels it only exists to bring joy

And it does to most of those around it

But there was one the heart could never keep pleased

The heart would twirl and dance

Smile and laugh

Help and perform

But it was never enough

You see this young heart was given to someone

Given to someone who to an unpredictable “Guardian Heart”

A guardian heart that could not seem to decide what pleased them

There were moments on a picnic blanket surrounded by calla lilies

A moment where a swing set was built just for that young heart

A moment of dancing around to a Righteous Brothers song

The young heart lived for these moments

But they were few and far between

And as the young heart grew, they became few and far between

One moment the young heart would be shown off

“What a good beautiful young heart” the others would say

The young heart would beam and shine

The guardian heart would smile and nod

But then would ignore the heart, with a sudden mood change

The young heart never understood why

At the end of the day, the young heart would greet the guardian heart

Greet them with a hero’s welcome

Only to be told to go away because the guardian was tired

Then the guardian heart would be home for only a few hours

Most of that time spent in front of the TV

Then off to another job

The heart could go to that one and would beg to go too

But was usually told no

On weekends the young heart would dance and compete for attention

Against a little box with a bunch of men in helmets, dressed in orange, Who made a living tackling each other over a ball

The young heart didn’t understand this hobby but was willing to learn

Desperate for any time that it could get

The young heart was willing to learn but was told to go away

After the important time in front of a little box

The guardian would come to find the young heart, but it was too late

It was late and the young heart was being put to bed

On other weekends the young heart would beg and beg to play

Twirling with wide eyes, seeking the affection of guardian heart

Trying to make itself as pretty and pleasing as possible

But the guardian’s heart always seemed to prefer another little heart

The young heart didn’t understand

The little heart wanted nothing to do with the guardian heart

And yet the guardian heart pursued time and invested in that one

This other little heart pushed boundaries, broke rules, tested fences

But that didn’t seem to matter to guardian heart

All displeasure seemed to fall on the young heart

For years back and forth

One moment pleased the next displeased

The young heart could never keep up

Couldn’t figure out the rules of this game they were playing

The young mind tried to plan, to find out what the game was

But to no avail, the rules and the board just changed again

As the young heart grew older, it started to notice things

Things like the gaurdian heart lying to both young and little heart

Or to the other ‘Loving Heart” who was the other caretaker

This confused the young heart more

But if questions were asked then there were consequences

Guardian Heart would get very angry and tell Young Heart it was bad

So the young heart took it and tried to convince its mind to do the same

Eventually, young heart started subciously being bad on purpose

Just to get some time and attention from the guardian heart

After all, it seemed to work for little heart

More time passed and Guardian Heart grew colder and harder

Young Heart took on more responsibilities

Responsibilities that a guardian heart won’t do

While Loving Heart was away trying to make extra income

The young heart was left to take care of itself and the little heart

Guardian heart would come home and pass out or hide in the bedroom

If a young heart knocked, the guardian would get angry

So the young heart quit knocking

Young Heart began to notice there were separate rules for Little Heart

Little Heart was free to roam outside

Free to meet Loving Heart at the corner coming home from work

Young Heart opened the front door and Guardian Heart would fly out of sleep and yell

Wanted to know why the door was open, where was young heart going

The young heart was checking the mail…….

One day Young Heart woke with a fear, a fear someone was coming after it, and Little Heart

So for the first time in ages, Young Heart begged the guardian to stay in the front yard with them

But the guardian heart was inside watching the little box again

The young heart was on guard all day, anxious and fearful

Then Young Heart saw it, a truck coming up the road

For the first time, the young heart heard “the voice”

The voice would come to know so well

“Get ready, that is the danger”

The young heart gripped a garden tool, ready to fight

Mind prepared, went through all the things it knew to do to fight

The stranger started up the driveway, then looked panicked and left

The young heart breathed a sigh of relief and then looked behind it

Excepting to see Gauridan, Loving Heart, or The dog

But the young heart was alone in the garage

Grabbing little heart the young heart ran inside and told loving heart

Then went to the tower where it was safe, turned the music way up

As a loving heart went to confront the Guardian heart

That was the day Guardian Heart lost its title

Young mind was reeling, replaying the events

The young heart was confused and felt uncertain

“I don’t think we can depend on guardian heart, “ said a young mind

Young heart agreed

Time passed and the castle kept feeling smaller and smaller

Even though the young heart was growing older and maturing

The “Hardened Heart” formally known as the guardian

Kept limiting the freedom of the young heart more and more

Time with young heart used to be a burden for the hardened heart

Now the l hard heart would throw fits if it didn’t get its way

Pout when the young heart spent time with friends

Now the hardened heart wanted to take the young heart for bike rides and adventures

But now young heart had essays to write, tests to take, and odd jobs to work

The young heart decided to give the hardened heart a chance to mend things

Started asking for time again, but the hardened heart would say no

And go back to staring at the little box

Only to get mad the next day when young heart went to work an odd job

One day young heart, frustrated with these behaviors

Asked why, the circles and whiplash

Hardened heart got so angry and darkened

Spoke terrible things over young heart, fired verbal arrows

Threw stones of shame at the young heart

Young Heart left the conversation unsure of what happened

But somehow feeling that it was to blame

Young heart still had moments of wanting to please the hardened heart

Finally, though young heart realized nothing would be good enough

The young heart wasn’t pretty enough, smart enough, good enough, respectful enough, or pleasing enough

There always seemed to be something Young Heart was doing wrong

Although young mind could never figure out what it was

And the young mind swore at this point that the hardened heart was trying to hurt the young heart on purpose

There were too many “mistakes” that deeply wounded young heart

Too many apologizes over the same behavior only to repeat it

And young heart started to feel like it was stuck in a cage

No matter where the young heart went

The hardened heart seemed to follow and mess things up

Doing things to humiliate or degrade a young heart with hurtful words

But discreetly so that if young heart spoke out, no one believed it

In public, hardened heart would smile and beam as it took credit

Credit for how “good” and “delightful” young heart was

But hardened heart had done nothing to educate, care or teach young heart, that was all the loving hearts doing

Yes hardened heart paid the bills but that was about the extent of involvement

Little Heart was already taking on guardian chores that hardened heart should be doing

Young heart started getting the strangest feeling, the feeling that was hardened heart was trying to control the young mind

Young mind felt more and more this was a twisted game

Even though Young Heart had never signed up for it

The young mind tried to ask other grown hearts, tried to tell them something didn’t feel right

But very few listened, most ignored or told Young Heart this was normal

But the young heart started to slowly realize

There were bars on the castle windows

Locks on the castle doors, but where was the key?

Young heart and mind finally realized

They were not free………..

But this was only the beginning of their story