Thank you all for your suggestions, and my apologies for not being more specific. The sentence I was puzzling over contained graphic violence in a highly personal context, and I am still working up the courage to share the writing. I should have included that from the start, that my reluctance to give details was about my own sitting-on-the-fence about this piece, despite that I have shared very personal things in the past through published writing. You all did very well, especially considering how little you had to go on, and I thank you for that.