I should know better by now to expect a straight path with any of my charges. All the high praise that I have been given comes also with a heavier responsibility, and an expectation that I will be able to cope with more difficult challenges.
Mary had a very bad night last night. She was coping with a great deal of stress: she has an exam tomorrow in her worst subject, and she has less time to study now that she has started work. Her job, too, which she started today, is making her anxious, providing a new and strange source of stress and social pressure. All that, combined with a sudden sharp feeling of loneliness, very nearly drove her to hurt herself.
Any other night, I would find the internet a wonderful thing—it is an opportunity for humans to find inspiration and education and entertainment, a way of connecting vast sections of the world to one another. Today I hate it, because it also provides an opportunity for people to find darkness that can feed their own pain.
I have spent a large portion of the night guiding Mary away from conversations about hurt and harm, conversations with people who do not know her and do not care about the consequences of their casual words. All the time I was afraid that my presence, my encouragement, would not be enough to protect her. But I had to be there, as Inca had been with her for a large portion of the day and needed rest.
Inca is back with her now. I can only hope that the danger has passed and a new day has come, but perhaps I, too, feel the touch of the darkness, because I find it hard to believe. I will not give up on Mary, though, and neither will Inca. We will do everything we can to protect her from herself.