ALONE

"Miss, are you all right?" an old woman's voice was the only thing that I could remember. Everything was blank and no matter how much I tried. I can't seem to remember what had happened and who I was.

As I continued to stare outside the window as the rain drops slowly fell down, memories somehow started to flash right in front of my eyes.

"Tie her down," a man's voice suddenly echoed in my head. I quickly shook my head as if to stop myself from remembering. "Tie her down. I'll go first, and then you follow," a man's voice again uttered and then a sickening laugh followed.

I screamed and suddenly started to cry.

"No! No! Please… don't," I continuously cried out.

Two male attendants immediately entered my room and tried to calm me down but I still cried and cried and cried… until they were finally forced to put me to sleep.

As the drug started to take effect, bits of memories still played in my mind just like I was watching a movie right in front of my eyes.

"Please help me… help me…" I cried out as I moved from one person to another. But they all just stared at me with fear and disgust in their eyes. I was running in the middle of the street with torn clothes stained with blood.

It didn't take long for a policeman to suddenly come my way. I asked for their help but instead they immediately handcuffed me and started to question me like I was a criminal. I told them what happened but they wouldn't believe me. At first, they thought that I had killed someone but after hours of unending questions and examinations. They finally found out the truth.

I was raped and the blood that was on my clothes belonged to me. I was a virgin when it happened.

After being raped, I was harassed and mistreated by the people who were supposed to help me. What a cruel world.

A week passed after the incident, painfully I just received a note from my fiancée saying that he was calling off our engagement. He wasn't even man enough to face me in person and break up with me formally. I was just given a small piece of paper and it was the END of six years of being together. What an unfair world.

A month after the incident, everyone I knew changed. Whenever they looked at me, it was like they were trying to see right through me. Some of the women I knew pretended to care and show concern, but I knew they were just lying. The more I tried to move on, the more they just made me remember. What a heartless world.

I tried to be strong but no one was there to help me. No one was willing to guide me and be with me in the dark tunnel I was passing through. Alone and abandoned… I was finally lost.

I started to withdraw into my own little world, the world that I created to protect myself.

Slowly… slowly…. All the memories faded.

"Poor girl," one of the attendants uttered as he carefully closed the door.

"What happened to her?" the other attendant asked.

The first attendant just shook his head in pity. "She suddenly lost her sanity after being raped. Somehow she couldn't cope up with what happened to her so she tried to commit suicide several times but always failed. And since she's already suicidal, her relatives have decided to put her here. They are hoping that after a few months of therapy and medications, maybe she can return back to normal."

The second attendant suddenly chuckled. "Back to normal? If they were really that concerned then they should have given her more support right from the start."

The other man nodded his head in agreement. "You're right. Somehow some people just give help when it is already too late."

"Even though we are living in a vicious world, always try to keep an open mind and always try to extend a helping hand to those in need. Try not to judge people so easily… give more support and understanding. You might never know when these simple things might actually be the only thing that can help save a life."