Once there was a boy who heard his mom say

"I love you."

and his dad said back,

"I love you too."

as they walked out the door

and there was a little boy

who thought this was sweet.

        Once there was a boy who

saw his parents fighting,

and the next morning

when mom was writing,

she called behind herself with a tear in her eye,

"I love you."

and the dad said flatly,

"I love you, too."

as he walked out the door.

And there was a boy

who thought this didn't feel quite right.

       Once there was a boy with his mom while eating,

it was well known dad was cheating.

So when dad came home

and said he'd be going to sleep,

without looking up, she replied,

"I love you."

He said, "I love you, too."

And there was a boy

who thought they didn't mean it.

       Then the boy grew up

and he saw this more than ever.

people said "I love you."

but meant it almost never.

       And finally, he caught onto the pattern...

The more you do something, the less it becomes.

       He used this to his advantage.

       He told goodbyes

as if butterflies

were dancing out of his mouth.

Eventually it meant "See you later."

       He took so much homework

everynight,

until it became fun.

       He cried about the silliest things

until he laughed about them.

       He told himself he couldn't do it

until he didn't feel discouraged.

       He talked about his fears

until he realized he wasn't afraid of them.

       He chanted over and over and over in his head

"hatred, hatred, hatred."

until it echoed back,

"love, love, love."

       He felt pain so much that he could finally say

"I'm happy."

       But he always saved his "I love you."

for another time.

       that's when he realized it was the opposite

for everyone else.

       "Hello" meant we were one step

closer to "goodbye."

       "I'm so happy." only meant "I didn't cry today."

       A "friend" was someone who you would gossip with,

then gossip about when they turned around.

       "I'm fine." was code for

"I've never been worse."

       And somewhere along the way,

the sweet "I love you" could easily mean "I hate you"

       for everyone,

       except him.