Suddenly, I heard a sharper, colder roar:
“I told you to get out—are you deaf?”
I really couldn’t hear him.
The sound was trapped beyond glass.
I was shaking uncontrollably, unable to stop.
Footsteps suddenly closed in.
My chest tightened.
He was coming.
He was going to make a move.
Like those people in prison,
He would grab my hair and slam me against the wall…
Drag me into the hallway…
Kick my ribs…
No.
I couldn’t.
I didn’t dare lift my head.
All I saw was a hand reaching out, a shadow rapidly approaching.
I shrank into a ball.
Like a bird startled by fire, frozen in an instant.
My hands clutched my head.
My body shook as if it would fall apart.
“Don’t hit me… don’t hit me…”
My voice was broken, squeezed from the depths of my throat.
The dark
