The morning is a glow, as the sun shines through the curtains of the window. The beam catches the right eye of Tonya, wakening her from her slumber. The night before has placed a strain on her mind, trying to figure out what was to become of her and Alex. On this day, she wants to move away from thoughts of the two of them being together to just realizing her inner self. For some reason she begins to think about the day her life would change forever to lead her to this point.  With the sheets all over the bed, she straightens them and lies back down to focus her mind on that day, a day she hasn’t thought about in years. Alex has always told her that she’s in need of help. His reasoning is based his belief that she’ll never have a successful relationship until she gets help.  She begins to think of the night and can smell the scent of the corn bread her mother made that evening. Suddenly she feels like a kid again, experiencing what she felt on that dreaded day.

The night is one of loneliness and sadness, covering the walls of our home. The thunder beats down like a bass drum to create a somewhat eerie night. The darkness of night descends down upon our home like it normally would around 8 pm. The trees lie against the house and scratch at the second story window. I always felt like the trees were talking to me. They only seemed to make that noise when something was about to happen. There are no leaves on the trees to hide the design of the branches. The window sits facing the stairs and it’s my usual spot to sit and listen to what happens in our home. As the old hardwood stairs support me, the sounds from my mother and father’s room echo to me in an eerie manner. Sometimes I wish there was a way to grow wings and jump from this window to avoid hearing this mental clutter. From the outside, our home stands two stories, white, with a big porch up front. There isn’t much in the backyard but two electrical wires that run from the house to the utility pole. From my bedroom, the wires sit next to the window. Often times, I dream of one day jumping on to then and scaling to the bottom to see how it feels. But they are just dreams of mine that help me dream. I’m never really lonely because the house makes enough noise to keep me company with all the creaks and strange noises we hear at night. Suddenly, on the steps I feel the stomps of feet pounding away at the wood. “Daddy, what’s wrong!’ I yell. He smiles at me as he runs past me laughing. He’s running from my mom as they play some childish games. There’s no surprise that they have been play fighting again. Sitting here in this spot, one can hear the sounds of voices, but not exactly what they’re saying. These are the sounds of tones going up and down. There is this feeling of happiness I have at that moment because the house was so warm. Suddenly, there is this pounding on the door that takes me out of my dreams. Fearful I run upstairs to my bedroom and hide under the bed.  Sliding under the bed, the banging against the door gets louder, followed by a loud crash. The dust under the bed climbs into my nostrils, making me want to sneeze but I can’t because it would give away my hiding spot. As if lightning was striking in the house, I hear the loud piercing sounds ring out several times with voices that followed. Then there was nothing, but quiet. At that moment under the bed, she knew something was terribly wrong. Being only 6 years of age, her parents were taken from her through the hands of thugs who had mistaken her parents for someone else.  Lying in the bed, Tonya begins to cry, still affected by this tragic event, but at the same time finally facing something that devastated her.

To be continued…

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On our About the Expert page, you can learn more about the author, including contact information and other posts they've written. About Rajah Smart, M.A. ED.