The Forest Next Door

Chapter 1

         I see the sunshine peak through my curtains and I know it's 7:00 a.m. Sometimes I wonder how can the world be so beautiful? I hop in the shower and let my hair air dry so it'll be wavy. I have long red hair and I absolutely love it. I quickly put on a nice white tank top and high waisted jeans and cowboy boots and do my make up lightly, I usually only use mascara. I quickly walk down stairs hoping my mom's not already up and I get lucky it's 7:38 so I throw in some toast in the toaster and I make myself a cup of coffee as I eat and drink my coffee. I walk around the house and clean up. I’m guessing my mom was up all night drinking because of the liquor bottles everywhere, I was lucky to return after she had gone to bed so I didn't have to put up with her. I quickly ran out the door to head to work. My mom doesn’t work and I had to start working at an early age so we would have food and stuff we needed , I turned 16 yesterday and of course no one cared but I learned not to care for my birthday either. I don't go to school because of the bruises left on me. I work on a farm in the middle of nowhere so no one can ask questions. When I was little  my father died. He got into some trouble with these drug lord men trying to bring in money to support our little family and for that my mother blames me. She said if I was never born he would have still been alive because then he wouldn't have to try and get more extra money so she drinks constantly. If she is upset, angered, or runs out of alcohol I am blamed and beat. I have deep scars and wombs on my back and stomach and arms and I rarely eat, all of it is from my mother, so I usually have to wear jeans and a long sleeve shirt. I have bruises on my face from where she hits me and they hurt but I'm used to it. I had to deal with it ever since I was 5, that's when it all started. I was out in the field picking flowers for the dinner table and I heard some screams and out of nowhere I was picked up and placed in a bush and a young boy told me to stay put and to not move no matter what I hear. My dad had owed them some money from which he borrowed and he hadn’t paid them back for 3 years and so they came after him and when they found out he had no money they killed him leaving him in our living room. As soon as I realized they had left I ran as fast as I could . The door was still wide open and all I could see was blood and momma lying on the floor in tears, as I began to cry she screamed and grabbed me yelling this is all your fault. She soon ran out of the house and that's when I knew she wasn't gonna be back until late that night and so me being 5 I had to carry my dad that's covered in blood outside. I carried him to the top of the hill with tears streaming down my face. Daddy always loved it up here, we had always played at the top of this hill. It was so beautiful every time of the year and even at night we would lay in the grass and look up at the stars and just gaze at them for hours. So I picked up a shovel and I dug as deep down as I could to bury my father. Soon the hole was dug and I ran back to the house and grabbed my favorite cover and a bucket of water. I cleaned my dad up to make him look decent and I wrapped him in the blanket and I buried him. That was the worst thing I had to do in my life. Even my mom beating me wasn't as bad as this, yet I still blame myself for his death. Was it really my fault? Could I have helped him?