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Sunlight shone through the windows of Agnes' dark bedroom. She slept on the hard wood floor with only a towel to keep her warm on the cold December nights. There was no heat in the dumpy house she'd lived in her whole life. Agnes was used to the cold though, but it just kept getting worse.
The old wood door of her room burst open and in came her father. He was a large man, with muscular arms and muscular… everything! He could most likely beat the life out of absolutely anybody, but Agnes wasn't scared of him.
Agnes was quick to her feet and stood before the giant in front of her. Not knowing what she had done, he pushed her back to the floor, her head making a loud crack as it touched down. The wind was knocked out of Agnes and she found it hard to breath. The horrible man cursed at her and then left the room. There was a click and Agnes was locked in.
Once it was quiet again, Agnes sat back up and rubbed the back of her head, finding it tender and filled with pain. She felt dizzy as she stood up and leaned against the wall for support.
Agnes looked out her only window at the city of Grandview, New York; her house being on the corner of a very busy street. Being as quiet as possible, Agnes carefully opened the window and slithered out. She quickly ran down the street to her favorite store, "Same as It Never Was Antiques."
Inside the store was a friend of hers, Melinda Gordon, who greeted every customer with a smile. Agnes pushed open the door and a little bell went off. Melinda immediately saw her and rushed over, knowing that something horrible had happened to Agnes already. "Are you alright?" she asked.
"No!" Agnes sobbed. "My head hurts and I can't breathe!" Melinda pulled Agnes into a hug.
"What happened?" she said calmly. "Was it your father?" Agnes simply nodded, tears streaming down her cheek. "I'm going to help you," Melinda reassured.
"You can't!" Agnes cried. "He'll hurt me more!"
"What about your mother?" Melinda continued.
"She couldn't care less," Agnes scoffed. "She's always in her bedroom with another man. And it's a different man every day!" Melinda frowned and put her arm around Agnes' shoulder. She could feel her bones under her skin, for Agnes hadn't eaten in at least a week.
"You're so thin!" Melinda said. "Agnes, you have to eat."
"Oh, believe me I want to," Agnes replied. "Eleven more days without eating and I'll be dead!"
"Come with me," Melinda said and took her out onto the sidewalk. They walked all the way down to the corner to the nearest Starbucks. Agnes got all the looks as she walked through the door. Melinda told her to go sit down and soon came back with two sandwiches and two drinks.
"Take your pick," Melinda said as Agnes grabbed a turkey sandwich and the Frappuccino.
"Thank you," Agnes said. She inhaled her food but savored every bite. Melinda smiled to herself knowing how much she helped this poor girl.
A gust of cold air blew in and a large man walked in. Agnes gasped as she saw her father and ducked under the table. Melinda could see the fear in Agnes' intense brown eyes and tried to act as casual as possible.
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