2.
Evelyn reached her house, and the sun had
sunk below the horizon. She shivered thinking how
furious her Da would be with her for losing track of
the time. Slowly opening the door and trying to stay
quiet, the hinges let out a loud squeak that echoed
through their dark halls. She saw a light turn on
from up the stairs, and the heavy footsteps of an
angry man. He stood at the top of the stairs, and
stared at her. He had his belt in hand. The tears
began streaming down her face as he moved quickly
toward her.
She rolled around in bed, tired and aching
for sleep, but unable to relax for her body was sore
and in pain. Evelyn lifted her arm staring at the
quilt of bruises and red marks and tracing her finger
over them gently drawing pictures as one would
connect stars to make constellations. That one is a
boat, and that one’s Henry, and that one there is the
ocean and the sun. She often wished she could just
sail out to sea on a little boat just for her and Henry,
far away from her Da, as far as she could get.
They would arrive at whatever was across the sea,
her and Henry, and live a happy life together. She
cried herself to sleep again.
She dreamt. Her dreams and her time with
Henry were the only moments she could escape the
reality of her hellish life. This time it was snowing,
she loved the snow. She twirled around in the fresh
white powder and laughed as she looked into the
sky. Everything around her was draped in a white
coat, the trees, the ground, the houses in the distance.
A little yellow bird flew past her and fluttered its