Stand Up, Rise Up

       I have met many people in my life. Learned from everyone, whether it was a kid, teenager, grown-up, or senior citizen. Every person has a story of their own.

What they are now has a story called what they were and what they went through.

       A very close friend of mine was molested by her friend as she went to take her phone's charger which she had given to him. He tried forcing himself on her. She kicked him and pushed him back and ran off from there to her PG room. She locked herself up and cried. She couldn't believe what just had happened. Scared and devastated, tears rolled out of her eyes. At night she couldn't eat properly; her hands were shaking. She couldn't stop thinking about what had happened. He intentionally tried to get physical with her. She couldn't sleep as thoughts were eating her up. She was terrified, and fear grew inside her.

       Three days went by; she was still shaken. I called her as it was my birthday, but she didn't wish me. We talked, and I ask her to come to the celebration by 7:30 p.m. She said we will meet before it at 4:45 p.m. I agreed. I thought she gives me a gift and surprises me. Little did I know.

       We met at a café. As Latte was making its way towards our table, she says I need to say something. I told her to go ahead. I'm listening. She began to explain everything that happened to her what she felt. Tears were flowing out from her eyes. I was shocked. The Latte went cold as I couldn't take a sip. I couldn't even imagine what she has gone through. I was so much angry at the guy. Rage filled up. My brain just wanted to wallop him. But my priority was my friend and her comfort. I hold her hand and told her to be calm as it will be okay. After a while, she gathered her smile piece by piece. I wrote poems for her whenever she felt sad, but a poem couldn't do things right here. All I could do was take her off that topic, but what good it would do. We talked about what we can do. Making her regain her confidence was the hardest thing to do, but slowly, but indeed it had to work.

       The following day she lodged a complaint against him, drastic measures were taken. Finally, she stood up against what was wrong. She did the right thing. She could have stayed in the dark, letting these things go by, but she rises up. The respect I have for her is immeasurable.

       Often, we face a situation where you can do nothing and suffer silently, where you can do wrong and then feel guilty, or you can do the right thing and stand up for what is right.

The path of righteousness is steep, but it's the best choice you can ever make, so stand up, rise up.