Barren by Yolanda Olson

I always wanted to find a place where I belonged.
A place where I wasn’t looked at differently for being one in a million.

I left home when I was seventeen looking for this nirvana on Earth that I knew had to exist somewhere, and I finally found it in a small revival of traveling performers.
No one here looks at me any differently because of my illness. See, even though I look like the perfect picture of health, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
I don’t believe that my anomalies make me any less of a person than someone who has the ability to feel certain things.
My new family has welcomed me with open arms, and even made me a top billing because of what I can withstand—which to say is a lot.
Until him.

I never knew that I didn’t care to feel anything until he joined us.
I want to feel him.
I need to feel him.
I’ve finally found the one thing I’m unable to withstand, and when I feel his eyes on me, I know that things will be alright eventually.
He wants to help me—I can see it in the way he looks at me. Whether he admits it or not, I know that he’s come here for me.