Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Break (02/06/06)
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TITLE: A Broken Reed | Previous Challenge Entry
By Kay Newman
02/10/06 -
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…….when a tiny, young reed is broken, it hardly makes a sound.
She could scarcely move. It felt as if an unseen force was pressing down over her entire body and her breathing was so soft there was no sound. Moments passed and she realized she may not be breathing at all. Should she scream? Should she let him know she was awake? Her heart was pounding with a deafening force.
There were eight living children in Tara’s family and her oldest sister, Gladys was thirteen years older than her. She remembered the day Gladys married Frank in the family home and watched with little girl eyes as romance and matrimony joined hands. The entire event was a mystery to her and Gladys was hardly more than a child herself at 18. With eight mouths to feed, the Moores could not afford a large church wedding, so, simple decorations, a few family and friends, and the pastor of the Beulah Baptist Church, along with his family, were the only guests. Tara watched every detail and wondered how Frank would become her brother-in-law. That was one of those details of life she just accepted as gospel and went about playing in her little girl world.
Soon the newly weds returned home and all the family greeted them anticipating details of the Niagara Falls honeymoon. Tara had been in the back part of the house when the honeymooners arrived and was busy in her own bedroom taking care of her Tiny Tears baby doll. As she looked up from her play, Frank, her new brother or something, entered the room and with a big smile opened his arms for Tara to express her welcome. Obliging and doing what all good five year old sister-in-laws do, she ran to his arms for her hug. The excitement in Tara’s eyes soon paled as Frank pressed the entire length of her small body into his. She had never been hugged like that before. Her father, nor her uncles had ever hugged her that way and when the noise of others entering the house exploded, Frank made a quick change in his posture and innocently placed Tara on his knee.
That was the first of many inappropriate gestures Frank made toward Tara and as the years passed, Tara had accepted the fact that her brother-in-law was doing something wrong, but she didn’t know who to tell or what she would say. So, it was their secret. It was a secret filled with shame and too complicated for a young girl to decipher.
After a year of marriage, Gladys gave birth to her first child who was actually closer to Tara’s age than she. Within three years there were three children and Gladys found Tara to be a good helper with the little ones. Tara loved being at Gladys’ house when Frank wasn’t at home, but the minute he walked in the door, she became very uncomfortable and nervous. . Frank had one of those military personalities and he enjoyed exercising his authority in his small kingdom. There was a nasty feeling when Frank was home. Although he never touched her, she was always suspicious of his hugs and attention. Tara had seen some magazines with pictures of naked women in the bathroom and she knew they must belong to Frank. He always smelled of beer or whiskey and his drinking was becoming a real problem for Gladys and the children.
It was a long summer weekend and the Moores had won a trip to Vegas. Rather than sending all the children from home, they decided to invite Gladys and Frank to stay in their home and watch the younger siblings.
By now, Tara was a beautiful, full busted, thirteen year old girl in a woman’s body. Tara never knew why she became the target of this man’s passions. During the night, Frank slipped into her bedroom and all of Tara’s fears were realized in the “once safe” haven of her room.
……who could she tell? What would she say? Thus comes the silence of innocent victims and the tiny reeds that are broken in the night…..without a sound.
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