The girl who lost her childhood

She was only 11.Serena.Most kids her age were still obsessed with dolls and ribbons.And the ones who weren't?They were too busy with their video games and cartoons. Why can't you be like everyone else?The tiny voice that had taken root in her head since it all started, said to her. She was not like every other 11-year-old kid because her days were spent differently. Some days, she was speaking to a white-faced woman with permanent lines on her forehead and at the sides of her mouth about her feelings. This woman promised she could make her pain go away.Other days, Serena was speaking to a brown -faced bony woman with flawless skin about how to make him go away forever.This woman always told her what to say and promised that he will go away if she said all that she was asked to. Serena did not like this brown-faced woman because she made her repeat the same things over and over. She taught her sentences like spells."say it again, say it clearly, say it with passion" She hated it most when the repetition echoed inside a courtroom full of strangers watching her tell the same story over and over until it no longer felt like hers. She had to tell everyone how that man took from her every night while her mother slept.Her mother. This man that did bad things to her was the man her mother married after her father left them for a 60-year-old French woman with great fortune. Her mother was clearly not the sharpest knife on the shelf when it came to men. The brown-faced woman fulfilled her promise but it came with consequences.That man was sent away for only two years.She was taken away from her mother and was adopted by her aunt and uncle. They were lovely but they insisted that she still saw the white-faced woman. They said it would help take away her pain.They were wrong. She never really knew why she was taken away from her mother.Was it because she married a child-eater? Then she turned 18.Serena. Most kids her age were obsessed with relationships and money, drugs and alcohol. And the ones who weren't?They were too busy chasing a university degree. Why can't you be like everyone else?The tiny voice that had always been there since it all started said to her. But how could she be like everyone else?She couldn't. Because when Serena finally got the courage to ask why she was never allowed to live with her mother or see her, she got a reply she never expected. But it made sense. When Serena was 11, when that man took from her, her mother was asked to make a choice. Her daughter, or the man.The rule was simple: "He could not stay. He could not return. He could not exist where Serena existed". Now Serena is 18.Her mother is still married, still sharing a life with the man who stole her child’s nights. When Serena asked why, her mother said:"He is a good man. He only made a mistake". And just like that,Serena understood.Some people lose their childhoods.Others lose their mothers.She lost both.

Other insights from Phayvour

Referral Earning

Points-to-Coupons