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They laughed at her.
Strongly.
And with cruelty.

She froze.
Tears slid down her face.
She shut down —
humiliated.

She tossed the book
she was reading
and walked out.
Broken.
Muted
like a rusted whistle
with holes.

Until one day,
a teacher found her
alone in a classroom…
singing.
A melody so sweet
it didn’t match the girl
who had once run away
in tears.

The teacher said,
“Keep going.”

But fear held her hostage.
She stuttered
whenever she tried to speak
in public.

Still…
she trusted that teacher.

And one day,
she sang again —
in the same classroom,
with the same students
who once laughed at her.
Heaven opened
its gates that day.

Shock and tears
visited the very ones
who mocked her before.

Fear tried to steal
her voice.
But she said, “No.”

And fear
did not win.

Fear lost the battle.
Finally.

And she was set free.
Forever.

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Author Bio
Dr. Ivan Edwards is a man who is comfortable wearing a few hats in life. A polymath, he is an ordained non-denominational minister, a medical doctor, a USAF flight surgeon (at the rank of Colonel), an entrepreneur and CEO, and a writer-poet.

His work explores healing, restoration, resilience, identity, and the strength of the human spirit shaped by faith.

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