Courage

[Acalewia]

She closed the book, placed it on the table, and finally, decided to walk through the door. She never knew her great grandmother and no one had ever told her how similar their situations were. The words Granny had written in her diary was exactly the strength she needed to walk out that door. She’d grown up hearing about Granny’s adventures but she never would have guessed in a million years that she, too, had lived in fear. Granny finally had the strength to leave her first husband after years of abuse. She touched the bruises on her arms from where her boyfriend had shaken her. The bruise on her cheek from the backhand last week was fading. It was almost as if he enjoyed seeing the discolored skin. He enjoyed berating her. She didn’t know what had happened to him. When they first started dating, he was the perfect gentleman. He was so loving and caring and treated her like a princess. Until they moved in together. And he turned into a monster. The first time he’d hit her, it had shocked her. He had been angry about her coming home late from work. She hadn’t understood why he’d been so angry. She gave him another chance. And another. And another. She lost count of how many chances she’d given him. But it’d only gotten worst. She’d tried to leave several times since then. But each time he found out, he threatened her life. Told her that no one would ever want someone like her. Called her horrible names and belittled her. And when he didn’t find out, she was too afraid to try. Afraid that he was right. And she was afraid to tell anyone, afraid that they would blame her for this. That they would say this was her fault and to stop making him so angry. But now she knew that another person in her very family had gone through what she was going through. Even though Granny had passed on when she was very little, the old woman’s wise words lived on. It was only Fate that Granny’s diary landed in her hands. It was as if Granny was telling her to do what she needed to do. As if she was giving her great granddaughter the strength she needed to run. For the first time in two years, she wasn’t afraid. She placed a hand on the door frame and the other on her still flat tummy. She had to do this for both of them.

[Acalewia]

I wrote this for NPR's Three Minute Fiction last month.

It didn't win Didn't even make it to Judge's Faves