TW

I'm writing a story that involves trauma, abuse, loss and eventually... the strength to rebuild and rejoice in all that life still has to offer.

Although it is fictional, many parts are very very real and reflective of personal events and emotions. It might be too much for some who have faced painful things, but it is the story of a woman who learns that healing is not forgetting, but finding new ways to live, love, and thrive.

Prolog

The rows and rows of fluorescent lights of the ferry's lounge hummed. The brightly lit interior was a stark contrast to the churning dark ocean outside that matched the rolling worry in Jewel's stomach. She hunched in a darkest corner of the lounge area on the upper deck, her arms wrapped tightly around her large belly. The oversized hoodie, pulled up to obscure her face, and hide her body, offered a meager shield for the purple bruises and the hollow of her eyes.