Chapter 1: The nightmare
A young girl, ten years of age, was curled up at the corner of a tiny and dark closet. Her arms were protectively surrounding her legs, and she was shivering, not from the cold, but from fear. She was coming. She knew she was almost there. Her worst nightmare. Her mother.
A shrill laugh came before her mom's loud voice could be heard.
"I know you are in there. You can not hide from me, little one. I will always find you." She said before the closet door was yanked open. She stared big eyed at her mother, tears dripping down her cheeks.
"Stop crying. It's disgusting, and get out of there before I lock you up in there forever." The mother said, pulling at her hand. She tried fighting her off, but she was not strong enough. She looked fragile and frail like she had been starving all her life. Her mother glared at her, and she shrieked back.
"I'm sorry." She timidly apologised. Her mother drew closer to her, and the girl fought the urge to turn away from her foul, reeking alcohol breath.
"What is that thing doing in my fridge?" Her mother asked, and the girl wrung her hands together. She didn’t want to say it because she knew her mother would get angry.
"Today is my birthday, so my class bought me a cake as a gift." She replied. Her mom was calm, but she knew it was the calm before the storm, and when it came to her mom, the calm never lasted long. She felt the slap before she could see it, and she went rolling on the floor. Her mother continued beating her, using both her hands and any shoes she could find. She was wailing as the violence went on.
"You ruined my life, and you dare celebrate. Because of you, my life was destroyed. Because of you I had to live in misery and you dare celebrate your pathetic birthday." Her mother screamed while kicking and telling her only child how disgusting she was. The young girl was still crying on the floor and feeling pain all over. The door was kicked open, and men in police uniform came rushing inside. The girl was relieved that, at least through her pain, someone had become her saviour. She felt dizzy and like everything was fading, and knowing she was safe, she let herself succumb to the darkness. The police officers could not believe the brutality they had just witnessed. What a small child had just gone through.
"Call an ambulance." The police officer kneeling near the girl said, as the others arrested her mother and put her in the van, hopefully never to be seen again.
"Thank you for calling." One officer said to the neighbor. "We will also have to ask you to come with us to the police station to give a statement."
"Of course, but I want to make sure the child is okay first, and then I will come to the station." The woman said. When the ambulance came, the neighbor left with the child. At the hospital, she was told the child had to undergo surgery, and after hours, the girl was put in the intensive care unit and was in critical condition. The neighbor made her way to the police station.
"What's your name, ma'am?" The police officer taking her statement asked.
"Zaneth Mars."
"Has this happened before?" The officer asked.
"I moved here recently. About a week ago, so I don’t know much. A few days back, I heard something, but I didn’t think anything of it. I just thought that a mother was disciplining their child, but then yesterday I saw the child sitting outside, and it was raining heavily. I asked her why she was outside, but she just kept quiet, crying. I took her inside my home to dry and keep warm, but she had all these scars on her body. What I heard today made me realise that this was abuse, and no child deserved to go through that, so I called the police. The scars on her body indicated that this had been happening for years now." Zaneth told the officer everything she knew.
The young girl spent months in the hospital, and Zaneth visited her regularly. The girl's mother was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. On the 7th month, Zaneth received a call from the hospital telling her that the young girl was awake.
