Tears flowed, but she kept her sobs silent. She didn’t want to wake the others.

How could she have let herself down like this? Why did she do it?

At the time it felt so right. But she knew if she got caught, this was the kind of punishment she would face. She took the chance anyway and got caught.

What was ahead for her now? The darkness held no answers, but it was comforting to know it swallowed her completely while she let her mind sort out her feelings.

She had no idea it would hurt this much. Anguish was the word for this. Her heart ached so much, it physically wrung strength from her body. She was curled in a ball, pillow stuffed to her face to keep her sniffles muffled. Her body shuddered, and when the tears stopped, she wondered if she would ever move from this spot.

Why should she?

Never would her life be the same. The reason she lived was gone, unreachable, handed over by her own weakness.

There was nothing that could ever bring that back. She had condemned herself.