Unseen Struggles

photo by me - (2-2-25)

Aly  stood on the pavement on her way to work, the scent of fresh coffee mingling with the breeze, warming her from within. She watched the world pass by. Each person absorbed in their own lives, some in their cars, others still trying to make sense of how another day had gone by. But Aly felt invisible. It wasn’t just the crowd. it was the weight of being a working woman in a country where dreams often seemed unreachable. Even foolish.

She had grown up in a small village where expectations were clear: find a job, get married, have children. But Aly wasn’t content with that script. Her parents had raised her to be imaginative, creative and, though it wasn’t part of their plan, a dreamer. She dreamed of something more. A life where she could carve out her own path, independent and purposeful, not just someone’s daughter or wife.

But that dream seemed to be fading. The song playing on her phone, Reamonn: Supergirl, was the only thing she owned that was keeping her sane.

Her phone buzzed. Another rejection email. She had applied for yet another position—an entry-level office job at a firm that touted openness and opportunities for women. And yet, despite her qualifications, the doors remained closed. This was the tenth rejection this month, and each one stung a little more. She held back her tears and turned the music up.

She thought of her friends. Christina, a bright woman with a bachelor’s degree, worked remotely for a company, earning far more than Aly ever had. Christina could easily hire Aly as her part-time assistant, but they were friends. Aly would never ask for that. Aly’s father, an old-school man & a poet, had told her years ago that education would be key in landing a job, but still insisted she pursue her dreams. “If you have a degree, people respect you differently,” he would say. “It also matters who you know, so make the right choices.”

But the truth was, Aly hadn’t been able or had the time to make the right choices. Her degree, her creativity, her ambition it all seemed irrelevant in a world that valued connections & status more than talent. No matter how many applications she sent, no matter how much she perfected her CV, it wasn’t enough. And with each rejection, the weight of her parents’ expectations grew heavier.

Her mother’s voice echoed in her mind: “Don’t worry, darling. It’s just the beginning. You’ll find your way. You’re talented, you’re smart.” But Aly didn’t feel talented. She didn’t feel smart. She didn’t feel like this was just the beginning. After all, she was thirty-six. She felt as though she were drowning in a system that didn’t seem to value her at all.

Alicia, had once said, “It’s like we’re all stuck in a game we didn’t even get to choose to play.” At the time, Aly had laughed it off, enjoying the moment with her friend. But now, those words hit her like a shock wave. She couldn’t even make the rules of the game, let alone win.

A woman passed by her—beautiful, confident, her black heels clicking on the pavement. Aly watched her, envy creeping up her spine, then felt pity. Was this woman’s success the result of years of hard work, or was it luck, privilege, or the right connection? Was it even real success, or had she numbed her feelings so much that she was now nothing but a well-oiled machine? A bot in the game, perhaps?

Aly wasn’t sure anymore. But she was tired of wondering. She didn’t want to be the woman who silently accepted her fate. She would not let them win, the ones who underestimated her. It wasn’t enough to simply be told she was “good enough” by her parents, by anyone, or to quietly wait for opportunities that never came.

Her hand tightened around the strap of her black backpack. There had to be another way. Maybe it was time to stop waiting for someone else to open the door and find the strength to kick it down herself. She stowed her earbuds in their case and slipped the phone back into her jacket pocket. “I am a super-girl,” she thought. “I will endure today, and every day after. And in the end, I will use people as steps to move upwards. Since they keep asking for monsters, I’ll show them what it really means to be one.”