‘that’s a brave choice of a dress’ my mothers words from 10 years ago still rattle in my mind. i was 16 and going to my first sixth form party eyeliner smudged under my eyes, i’d saved up for this patented sheer dress i can still remember how exited i had been to wear it, giddy like a child , yet desperate to seem grown up i had still gone to the party, but i was so self conscious i kept my jacket on the whole night then came home and tore the dress off, leaving it in a heap of dissapointment on my floor. 10 years on, i look at myself in this bathroom mirror my dress today is also black, a plunging neckline that i hope will make myself be taken seriously but also give me confidence to do what has to be done that sentence rattles in my head making me doubt myself a mothers words never leave your mind brave, what’s brave is what i’m about to do, about to end the stifling relationship that has made me question and hate and doubt myself for far too long. what’s brave is leaving the security of the present and rewriting my story there are things that require far more bravery than it may seem