A/N: Hello! I wrote this a couple years ago on another website. It's been revised and revised again, so don't worry, the grammar and word usage will improve! ^-^'
Mommy says we're going on a trip in a few days, but I'm confused because the only place I've ever gone with her is to the hospital. Sometimes she gives me a really deep cut or she breaks one of my bones and she gets scared, so she takes me to the hospital.
I asked her if I would need my clothes. For the past few months she has only let me wear my dad's old flannel shirt that he left behind when he went away. She only smacked me and punched me in the stomach. I take that as a resounding no.
After that she made a promise that she would never keep. She always silly promises and I always let myself believe her. She said, "You can come out of the attic when dinner is ready, I promise." I haven't eaten in a few days and my head if cloudy so I took it all in. I fell into her lie and reveled in the fuzzy thought of food. It didn't even have to be warm or fresh, just food.
Dinner time came and went and the attic door stayed locked. When I look out of the little circular window and see that the sun was already starting to come up, I realize Mommy was lying again. I've been sitting in the dark for hours, waiting to hear the soft click of the lock turning.
I could've ran away. I could've the whole time Mommy was being mean. I tried that once when Mommy allowed me to wear pants. The police found me at 2am, wandering the streets of Gotham. When they brought me home, Mommy didn't even know I was gone. She smiled and thanked the officers and for a moment, I thought she realized how much she was hurting me. I thought she looked sorry for what she did to me. That night, she broke three of my ribs, sprained my ankle, and broke my nose. She told the doctor I had fallen down the library steps. Truth is, I don't even remember what the library looks like.
I once read in a book that your insides shut down after a week without food. Is it the same for a ten year old girl? Would it come sooner or later? Does it hurt?
The other day, I bit through the skin in my cheek to see if I would be able to feel anything. I found out later I could because Mommy caught me doing it. She punched me in my bad cheek and asked me why I did it. I couldn't find a good answer because I was so scared, so I said I was drinking my blood, because I was thirsty. She took me by my hair and dragged me down the attic steps to the bathroom where she dunked my head in the scummy, yellow toilet that hadn't been cleaned since Daddy left. She kept yelling, "Are you still thirsty? Huh? Are you quenched yet?" Then she made another promise. It's the only promise I can trust her on. She said, "You won't be thirsty from now on, I promise." For the past few days, she's been dunking my head in the toilet. And everytime she does I take giant gulps of water. Afterwards, I throw up into a corner of the attic. But now I'm never thirsty.
It doesn't help very much with the hunger. What I would give for a cracker or a crumb of cheese. Or both! But if I were offered a full plate of food, I wouldn't touch it for fear that Mommy cooked it with soap or the dog's shit. What could possibly stop her? She's done them both before.
There is a boy outside. He's walking down the dark street. I wonder what he's doing and where he's going. He has patches on his face. A white patch on each cheek. I like those patches. They remind me that there are other people with their own problems. I wonder how he got those patches. I want to know his story.