There once was a girl who lived in a dark, lonely world. She was once surrounded by love, but was no longer able to see the light. She kept to herself in a small apartment, with a small tv, small bed, and a small chair. Every morning for a year she woke up, weighed herself and wrote it down, then measured her height against the wall. Each and every night she would get into her bed, pull a mason jar from beneath her pillow, and cry all of her tears into that jar until their was nothing left for her eyes to produce. She would twist the lid back on the jar, place it under her pillow, and close her eyes, waiting for sleep to come.

Most days were the same for the sad girl. Sometimes she would read the paper or tune in to the news, sometimes she would go to the courthouse and people-watch, but those things only happened on days she wanted to collect more tears.

On the day that marked the passing of one full year, the girl looked at her book of weight and at the chart that marked her height. She stared at the numbers for a long time, absorbing the facts in front of her. Finally, she closed her notebook and went to bed, crying into her jar one last time.

The following morning she put away her scale, and took a Polaroid photo of the chart that marked her height. She put the photo into a shoe box with her weight book and her jar of tears and then she left her house.

She walked for a long time, searching for someone whom she had not seen in one year. When she finally found him, she stopped, handed over her box and said, “I have cried for a year. I have not been touched, I have not been loved. No one has held my hand, kissed me goodnight, or showed any personal display of kindness. I have not reached out, I have not asked for help. I have lived my life alone. In that time, I have lost not one pound nor one inch. I am just as whole as I ever was. Your love did not make me, it certainly did not break me, and here is all the proof you need.”

She handed over the box, and before he could say a word she turned and walked away. She felt a weight lift from her shoulders that no scale could have ever measured, and as she pondered what the next day would bring, she felt something strange and unfamiliar on her face: a smile.