There is this 1968 classic novel by Russell Braddon, titled When the Enemy Is Tired. Based on a prisoner-of-war's survival story, the novel subtly passes on the art of psychological battling. However, I'm recalling this novel today after reading over a year and a half ago because of one thought suddenly erupting inside my head.

In the novel, the protagonist, a military high-ranker, hesitates and fumbles in answering any question to anyone for one reason only - he was punitively taught in his childhood not to answer back any elder.

Somehow, someone somewhere sometime taught me something too - not to ask for anything. And just like the protagonist of that novel, who failed to answer the easiest of the questions due to a simple childhood preaching, I always fail to ask for anything. Now, perhaps, you'd know why I couldn't ask for your love ever.