[ WP ] In order to speak a word , you must FIRST have it tattooed on your body . You can learn a lot about a person by the words they choose to say ...

Dolly nervously pulled her hair out of her face, gently caressing her swollen stomach with her other hand. 
 
 Mumbling incoherent but sweet sounding things to her unborn child, Dolly was happy. A nurse entered the run-down room where she was staying, and her head snapped up. 
 
 `` OK?'' the nurse said uncertainly, in the trademark brief manner of that of the lower class. Despite this, she still felt the word's calming effect. That was one advantage of not having many words; their effect was stronger. 
 
 Dolly understood the concern the nurse was portraying; the drunk man in the hall, the baby's father, had been screaming at Dolly before storming out. 
 
 Dolly nodded in response. She was used to her abusive husband by now. And she could n't be too upset with him; he was the reason the baby was here. Life would be much happier for the pair with a baby, Dolly assured herself. She would make sure of it. 
 
 The baby would protect Dolly, and Dolly would protect the baby. 
 
 She went into labor two days later. The labor was, fortunately, short -- and not even close to the most pain Dolly had been in. 
 
 It was a girl, as Dolly had feared. But Dolly would protect her. Dolly knew how. 
 
 `` Rest,'' the doctor encouraged her with a smile, leaving the room. 
 
 She knew the tattoo artist would visit soon. His careful, small marks would follow her instruction and ensure that more text would be able to fit later in life -- not that the poor family would be able to afford the words, anyway. 
 
 But Dolly did not have time to wait for a tattoo artist. She was already imagining her husband staggering his way down the hall, perpetually drunk, and shooting her a sick grin as he eyed the baby girl. 
 
 Dolly cooed to the newborn, who was crying now as Dolly shifted to grab the makeshift needle she had smuggled in her bag. 
 
 `` Sorry,'' Dolly whispered quietly, barely audible over the baby's screams as she shakily dug into the soft flesh. 
 
 H E L P 
 
 S T O P 
 
 N O 
 
 These were the words she would need to survive him, Dolly knew. She felt remorse and regret for even bringing a child into this world, into his world, but she also selfishly sought comfort in the fact that her husband's anger would no longer be directed only at her. 
 
 At the very least, Dolly had given the baby words to protect herself. It was all she could do.
