The Mute

 It was late one night when I heard the sound that changed my life forever. That sound, you ask, was the sound of my mother being r***d and then murdered. I was only eight years old when it happened, but I was smart enough to know not to make a sound from where I was hiding; otherwise, he would find me. Once he was out of earshot, I ran for the door but was caught before I could even make it out. I thought it was the murder, but it wasn’t. Instead, it was my older brother Nick. He put a finger to his mouth and motioned for me to follow him. So I did.     He led me to his room, opened up one part of his wall, and told me to get in. I wasn’t sure why he wanted me to hide in there when we should’ve been running to get help. But I trusted him, so I crawled into the hole in the wall. Before I could even turn around, Nick had shut the door behind me, trapping me in. I then heard voices and my brother screamed, then there was silence.     I woke up drenched in sweat. I have had that same nightmare for ten years, and it never seems to stop. It’s the same thing every night over and over again. I am the only surviving member of my family. I was taken into foster care after being found by the neighbors and have been living independently since I was sixteen. I have been in many different homes over the years, with no one wanting to keep me around for long because of my attitude. After my family had been murdered, I shut off my emotions completely. All my foster parents tried to get me to engage them in conversation, but it never worked. That night I swore an oath never to speak again.     Not speaking life was hard at first not speaking, but I soon got the hang of it and have been living the same way for nearly ten years. When I was sixteen, I ran away from my foster home and started living independently. I stayed at a homeless shelter until I got a job and enough money for an apartment. My life is simple now, and it has been since I got on my feet. I wake up, get ready for the day, eat breakfast, go to work, come home, eat dinner, then go to bed. So simple, and that’s how it’s always going to be.