The patients there were mostly teenaged girls, with the occasional boy. I thought of us all as tigers with thorns in our paws. We were beautiful beasts who'd gotten injured by life, by loss or trauma or shock, and if we could just get the splinters out of our paws, we'd be fine. My thorn was the fact that my mother had left me. Megan
In the story, the protagonist reflects on her experiences in a treatment center where the patients are primarily teenage girls, alongside a few boys. She likens them to tigers, powerful and elegant creatures that have suffered injuries from life’s challenges, symbolized by thorns in their paws. This vivid imagery captures their shared struggles and the hope of healing.
Among them, she feels a deep connection to their pain, as her own thorn is the abandonment by her mother. This personal trauma serves as a driving force in her journey toward recovery. Each character embodies the idea that while they have been hurt, they retain the potential to reclaim their strength and beauty.
