NEVER AGAIN

Growing up in a ghetto_like environment makes her feel more mature than her age. Karen has lived in the remote area of Rivers state all her life, it's been a rough and tough ride. Kids are forced into being adults before they get to the stage of adulthood. Karen has seen it all, well, almost all even at a very young age. She has a busy family so most of the time she's always seen alone, she sought attention, from anyone, and since it wasn't coming from family, she found herself in a big mess when she finally got that which she so badly wanted. Its her 9th birthday, just like last year, the year before last year and the other year before it, there was no party, no gifts, no special nothing, She felt terribly bad. Sitting in the front yard, hands on her chin, thinking about nothing and everything at the same time, Karen knew she was unlucky with her environment and it's quite unfortunate her family makes her feel unloved too. Just like every year, her birthday has come and gone, a 9 year old shouldn't go through this, she'd always tell herself. Few months after her birthday, she sat in front of the yard, playing with her fingers, her neighbor's son Hades who calls her "my wife" sat close to her, he's quite older than she is, he was busy with his phone, he knows she's going through a lot, he sees her as a little sister. When he gets back from work, they talk about a lot, random things; school, family, what she's been up to. She looked forward to his break, every weekend when he'd be around, he's her only friend. He goes back to work, she crawls back into her shell, it's always been that way since the past years. He saw a lot in her, the potentials, the strong future aspirations, he believes she's destined for great things, he prays she sees her young self that way too. If only she'd learn to live freely and not be scared of the world"Hades will always say when her thoughts crosses his mind. Karen found peace talking to him, she talks and reasons like an adult, which makes it easy for them to communicate effectively. At a point, she started being close to Hades family, they didn't see her as the lonely girl always sitting to herself anymore, she spent much time with them than her family. Hades mom's older sister joined them, they all lived in harmony and love. Karen envied their closeness and wished one day her own family would be like them. Sharon and Michael, His Aunt's kids joined them much later, the many, the merrier. Karen goes to their house before and after school, Christmas came and it was fun, for the first time in her life. Her parents had gone to work like always, surprisingly she didn't mind or begged to spend time with them. She celebrated her 10th