Podcast Title: “The Girl with the Scar and Keen Eyes”
Episode from: Ardarrh Inspiring Podcast
Have you ever met a child whose eyes seemed to hold a hundred stories… but lips barely told one?
This is the story of Tara, an 11-year-old girl with a scar across her cheek… and the kind of eyes that made you feel like she could see straight through you.
She didn’t talk much. She didn’t need to. Her eyes did the talking. Keen, curious, quietly searching.
But what no one knew—what no one stopped to
One small mistake, one question too many, one breath at the wrong time—and the shouting would come.
And so, at just 11 years old, Tara made a decision: If I make people happy, maybe they won’t hurt me. If I become perfect, maybe I’ll finally be enough.
So she tried.
people like me, maybe they won’t scream.
[Softer music fades… beat of silence]
But here’s the thing about scars—no matter how well you cover them, they still itch when healing wants to begin.
One day, Tara’s literature teacher—Mrs. Daniels—gave the class a writing assignment:
"Write a poem titled: ‘The Day I Felt Real.’”
Most kids scribbled down a memory from their birthday, a holiday, or when they won a prize.
But Tara?
She didn’t have that kind of memory.
So she wrote from hope.
“The day I felt real
No one needed me to bow
I laughed with a mouth full of bread
And no one called me greedy
My scar wasn’t a label
My eyes weren’t mirrors
I was just… me
And that was enough.”
Mrs. Daniels didn’t read it out loud.
She didn’t need to.
She just looked at Tara the next day and said something that changed her forever:
“You’re already real. Even if no one claps.”
Tara blinked. She didn’t cry—not right away. But that night, for the first time, she looked in the mirror… touched her scar… and whispered, “Maybe I don’t have to earn love.”
It didn’t all change overnight. She still wanted to be liked. She still said sorry too quickly. But something inside her had shifted.
She started asking new questions:
Do I like me?
What do I want?
Who would I be… if I wasn’t afraid?
Tara grew up slowly, gently. Her eyes? Still sharp. Still watching. But now, she wasn’t studying people to be safe—she was studying herself to be free.
She kept the scar. She even grew to love it.
Because that scar didn’t mark her as broken.
It marked her as a survivor.
If you’re listening to this and you’ve ever felt like you had to be perfect to be loved…
If you’ve ever shrunk yourself to fit into someone’s comfort zone…
If you carry invisible scars and wear a loud smile to hide them…
Just like Tara, I want you to know:
You’re already real. Even if no one claps.
This story was written and narrated by me, Ardarrh.
If it touched your heart, share it with someone who needs to hear it.
And remember, on this podcast, we don’t just tell stories—we heal through them.
Until next time, stay kind… to others, and to yourself.