Force

once there was a girl who did not understand force until it was used against her repeatedly; she had to learn she was not culpable when force was used against her, only when she used force against others, especially if she used force against those who forced her, even if she was only using force in self-defense; and most people think they understand force, think they know how it hurts, how to resist it, what it looks like, but they do not know that the man least likely to force you is the one everyone expects, the man in the bushes, they do not know that the man most likely to force you is the one no one would guess, the husband, the boyfriend, the best friend, the friend of the family, the family man, the uncle, the father, the brother, the cousin; they do not understand that women can force men and women but do so fractionally as often as men force men and women; they do not understand that force might never leave a mark where you can see it, but it always leaves a mark on your soul, and sometimes those marks accumulate until you are just one big walking scar; and they don't understand, and they don't care, and they wish you would just shut up so they can believe that it is the end