I felt like my life is taking a turning point. I thought I could deal with everything. It turns out, I was wrong. I didn't tell anyone. I let my emotions build up. I hid the tears and the pain. I thought I could cry it all away. It didn't help, it kept getting worse. So I snapped. I found a release. It took away the emotional pain and made it physical. I didn't think of the mental pain. Oh and by the way, my name is Alyssa.

I was born with half an arm. The bone is fused at the elbow and I have one finger that cannot bend. This is a disability that has made my life a living hell. I've been putting up with bullies and my mother for so long. I finally snapped. I got the sharpest knife out of my kitchen and cut my wrists, more or less. I put the knife under my half arm and used it like that. I had no control over how deep it was. Blood poured everywhere. It was so scary. I was home alone, so nobody heard me. Once I snapped out of that state, I went and had a shower to wash off the blood. I saw all those lines on my arms. What had I done?

That was six months ago. Since then everything has just gotten worse. Other kids from school found out about my cuts. They told the authorities. My mother was called and I was forced to see a counsellor. The worst thing they did was call my mother.

She was drunk when they called. She started hitting me, worse than before. I ran as soon as I had an opportunity. Locked myself in the bathroom, she couldn't get in here. I cried and spat the blood that filled my mouth into the sink. I was exhausted, I slept on the bathroom floor.

As I awoke the next morning, I tried to get my aching body of the floor. I peered at my reflection as I stood up. I looked horrid. I had a black eye and a split lip. Bruises ran up my arm and my stomach. I got off the floor and ran, ran to the school. I went straight to Erin Watson my favourite teacher. I told her everything. She took me into the counsellor's office. I told the counsellor everything. What my mother had done, every detail. Finally after ten years of misery, I had finally told someone everything. She made me wait in the office for her to come back. Each moment she was gone was like a needle piercing my skin. The clock ticked, my heart was racing. I was sure I was close to my max heart rate. She was gone a good half an hour to forty five minutes. When she returned she brought two people with her. Ms Callender and Sargent Ryan our principal and local police officer. I froze. "Everything is about to change…" I thought to myself.

They were discussing everything, getting me to talk. State almost every detail I could remember. Mum's boyfriends, her aggressive side, my hatred towards her. We spent the whole morning discussing and taking notes. I was asked if there was anywhere I could stay. I shook my head, "I'm not sure," I replied. They told me they could arrange something. "She can stay with me. I promised her she'd always have a home with me if needed," Erin blurted out. "Is this true Alyssa?" Constable Ryan asked me. I nodded and hugger her. Erin is tall and has bright red hair. Erin and I were asked to leave the room, she was told to entertain me. We went to the basketball courts and played a few one on one basketball games. We were laughing and I was actually having fun.

Through the distance I noticed a silver Mazda driving towards us, toward the school. I would know that car anywhere. It was my mothers. She had finally come, for justice. Erin tried telling me it would be ok. Those words were empty, they meant nothing, because I knew they were not true.

She arrived in the school car park, stepped out of her car and walked towards me, he pace quickening each step. Erin told me to get behind her, that she wouldn't let anything happen to me. I couldn't though. It wasn't her fight. I had to stand there and face my fate. "Angela you need to come with me." Constable Ryan said to her. She looked at me, that evil glint in her eye. He put her into the police car and drove off.

That was the last I ever saw of my mother. I'm now seventeen years old and I live with Erin. She adopted me. My life is so much better, no dramas, no cuts!

I am able to live my life to its fullest, doing what I want, somehow, along the lines…I managed to escape my fate.