"Broken Pieces"

Short Story | Fiction | by ReDDVoice

Journey to Hollywood...
Hannah was a runaway. At sixteen, she took a bus out west from her rural hometown in Texas. She had dropped out of high school, took all her allowance money and left her parents' home in pursuit of a career in the entertainment business. Hannah was a naturally talented actor and singer, but back home she felt like a big fish in a small pond. She had big dreams! Dreams of becoming rich and famous. Dreams of one day starring in movies. Despite her parents contempt, Hannah figured she could catch her break by moving to Hollywood. And she got lucky. For the first few months, she sought refuge with a couple she met at the bus station. They seemed very nice and allowed her to stay with them in a spare room over their detached garage. The room, which was being used for storage, was dark and dusty. Above the bed, there was a small window. Hannah broke it by accident trying to open it. The place was almost uninhabitable. She was not exactly pleased with her accommodations, but she decided to make the best of it. She was looking forward to living her dream. However, her naivety would be her downfall.

A Dreamed Deferred...
In her haste to run away, Hannah didn't fully consider how she was going to take care of herself without her parents. The couple had been helping her, but she needed money to contribute to food and toiletries. In desperation, Hannah found a job working as a waitress at a busy restaurant in SoHo. It was her first job and it was tough. She was on her feet all day and by the time she made it home, she was too tired to even search for auditions. As each day went by, her dreams had become more distant. Until one day during her shift, she met a big time casting agent. He was having lunch and had been assigned to a table in Hannah's area. As soon as he saw Hannah, he wasted no time flirting with her. He asked her age and if she had ever acted before. Not wanting to disqualify herself, Hannah lied and said she was 21. He gave her his business card and asked her to call him the next day. Hannah was so excited. She was finally one step closer to her dream. The next day, she called and met the agent for coffee. He said he had the perfect role for her and asked if she was interested. Of course, Hannah was overjoyed by the proposition. However, what he didn't tell her was what she had to do to get it.

Living a Nightmare...
Hannah was so concerned about the gig that she was unaware that her life was in danger. The man, she thought could make her famous, was not all he claimed to be. He was actually a serial killer who preyed on young runaways. He took Hannah to an abandoned-looking building, where he subdued her and tied her up. He then proceeded to a locked room where there was another woman handcuffed to a bed. Hannah was horrified! Her feelings of excitement were quickly replaced by feelings of fear. In that moment, she thought that she was going to die and she couldn't be more right. The man had just killed one woman, smashing her head with a tire iron before cutting her up into pieces. Blood was everywhere! It was like a scene out of a horror movie.

Hannah was now living a nightmare. All she could do was cry and pray she could get away. For several days, the two women were beaten and tortured. They were covered in bruises and smelled badly because they weren't allowed to even bathe. Though Hannah was exhausted, she was a fighter and hadn't given up. While the killer was preoccupied, Hannah planned to attack and make her escape. Unfortunately, her plan backfired. As soon as the killer saw her coming towards him, he knocked her in the head with the tire iron. Hannah fell to the floor in pain. Still dazed, she remembered a piece of glass she still had in her jacket from the window she broke at home. As the killer attacked the other woman, Hannah mustered the strength for a second attempt at escape. But this time, she was successful. With all her strength, she jumped the killer from behind and stabbed him in the neck. The two women escaped and left the killer in the building, bleeding to death. After the incident, Hannah was no longer interested in an acting career. She was traumatized, but glad to be alive. Hannah contacted her parents, who immediately flew out to California to get her. She moved back home to begin putting the pieces of her life together. Hannah never ran away again.

Mental Health Awareness: Fighting the Battle of the Mind

Commentary | Mental Health | by ReDDVoice

For many who suffer with mental illnesses, fighting the battle of the mind during a crisis is their biggest challenge. 

Testimony: 
Tracy was severely depressed. She couldn't stop crying. This dark episode was triggered by a major event in her life. After a messy divorce, she began to withdraw and have suicidal thoughts. She started to believe all the negative things that were being said about her. She questioned her worthiness, as both a wife and a mother. She was consumed by negative thoughts, battling feelings of sadness and despair. 

Here are a few tools:

1. Positive Self-Talk ~ Recite positive affirmations daily and focus on all of the good things in your life.

2. Counseling ~ Seek professional help immediately if you're feeling suicidal.

3. Triggers ~ Know what factors affect you negativity and how to respond.

4. "WRAP" Plan ~ Create and implement a plan of action for dealing with crisis situations.

5. Support Team ~ Have a list of people you can call on for help.

"Black Butterfly"

Short Story | Fiction | by ReDDVoice

College Bound...
It was Spring of 1989 and Amber had just graduated from high school. She was all beauty and brains and had a bright future ahead of her. Amber lived with her mother and step-father in a small, country town in North Carolina, where most graduates either worked in local manufacturing plants or went away for college and never returned. As the valedictorian, Amber had colleges offering her full academic scholarships. However, her only dilemma was choosing which one she wanted to attend. Amber was excited about her new journey, as she had dreams of becoming an attorney. A dream that her parents didn't quite share. They needed her to stay and get a job to help pay the bills, but Amber had other plans. She couldn't wait to leave town and start a new life. In the fall, Amber left to get her pre-law degree just a few hours away in the city of Charlotte. Amber was a virgin and had never been away from home. She was in for the college experience of her life!

The Wrong Crowd...
In the beginning, Amber didn't enjoy her newfound freedom. She was a little homesick because she didn't know anyone and living in a big city was quite intimidating. As months passed, she started meeting new friends and starting hanging out with her roommate. One day, she was introduced to a young man named Nick, a handsome jock who played on the college football team. He liked Amber and she was quite smitten with him. However, she was a little shy, as she had never been with a boy before other than making out at the movies. The two dated for several weeks and he introduced her to his friends. They were a wild crew of thirsty college girls and some of his football teammates who spent most of their time partying and drinking. Amber wanted to fit in so she started drinking too.

One day she got drunk and passed out at a frat party. Nick took her back to her dorm where they had sex. When she woke up the next day, she was half-naked and her sheets were smeared with dried blood. Hung over, Amber managed to get up and take a shower. She had a feeling Nick had done something to her. However, she was too embarrassed to ask or to tell anyone about what happened. After several weeks, Amber stopped seeing Nick because she could no longer trust him. And her grades were starting to slip. She went from making the Dean's list to being on academic probation. She was just a freshman and her college life had taken a turn for the worst.

Death Upon Her...
After a couple of weeks, Amber starting isolating herself to her room. She was trying to focus on bringing her grades back up. After going to classes all day, she was so tired she just went to sleep. One day on her way to class, she passed out and was taken to the hospital. It's was then that she found out that she was pregnant. Surprised by the findings, Amber frantically tried to come up with a plan. She didn't want to lose her scholarship, and she couldn't figure out how she could go to law school with a baby. Her options were limited. However, she had heard about a place on the shady side of town that does illegal abortions for a nominal fee. Amber had a few dollars saved up so she decided to go through with it alone. On the day of her appointment, she was so terrified. The building looked creepy and the office was hidden on a basement floor. A dark-haired woman escorted her to the back and gave her a solution to drink. The cold, sterile table felt like ice to her back. With her feet strapped in stirrups, they extracted the still-born fetus. The pain was intense, nothing like she'd ever felt before. All of a sudden she started to hemorrhage. During the procedure, an artery was punctured and they couldn't get the bleeding to stop. This wasn't the first time this had happened and the clinic didn't want to get in trouble. They did something unthinkable to cover up their mistake. Instead of taking Amber to the hospital, they took her into another room and let her bleed to death.

As she lay there in a pool of blood, her life flashed before her eyes. Amber was alone and for the first time had come to terms with what was happening to her. First, she was raped and now she was dying. She thought about her dreams of becoming an attorney and how much she wanted to live to see another day. In that moment, she garnered the strength to get up and found a phone to call 9-1-1. The ambulance came and took her to the hospital where she had to undergo surgery to repair the damage that caused her to bleed out. The woman who ran the illegal clinic was arrested. Amber recovered from her near-death experience and developed into a beautiful young woman. She was no longer that naive, country little girl. In fact, she was stronger. Despite all that she endured, she finished her undergraduate degree and went on to law school. Amber passed the bar and became a successful lawyer. Wanting to make a difference, she later returned to her hometown to open her own law firm and to take care of her family. Amber is proof that, just like a butterfly, your life can go through changes...But something positive can come out of it!

"Peace, Be Still"

Poem | by ReDDVoice

When things don't go your way
And you're having a bad day...
Peace, Be Still

When you want peace in your life
But all you get is strife...
Peace, Be Still

When people talk about you
But you know it's not true...
Peace, Be Still

When you lost your faith in God
Because things got too hard...
Peace, Be Still

When you have no job
And all you can do is sob...
Peace, Be Still

When your life is good
Because you do as you should...
Peace, Be Still

When you try to be strong
And you're yet holding on...
Peace, Be Still

When you do what's right
But you still have to fight...
Peace, Be Still

When you give up trying
But the alternative is dying...
Peace, Be Still

"Ashes"

Short Story| Fiction | by ReDDVoice

A New Best Friend...
Capone was a beautiful red-nose American pit bull terrier. He resembled the dog from the old tv show, "The Little Rascals", with its unique brown and white brindle patches. At eight months, the dog was adopted by a young woman named Sasha. She suffered with symptoms of PTSD and needed a companion animal to help her get through some of the rough days. Sasha and Capone made a great match. She needed him as much as he needed to please her. Capone would follow her everywhere she went. The two were inseparable. Their favorite place to go was walking on the beach nearby.

Capone was very protective over Sasha. Whenever people got too close or made Sasha feel anxious, Capone would stand between them. He also alerted Sasha whenever the door bell would ring. She rarely had visitors but Capone would always be happy to great them, carefully sniffing people at the door as they stepped inside. Sasha's parents worried about her, as she often had anxiety attacks. She even had a few public episodes that ended up with her being hospitalized in a psych ward. But she felt safe with Capone around especially after what happened to her a year ago.

One Year Earlier...
One evening as Sasha was sleeping a man broke into her house. He snuck in through an unlocked bedroom window. At gun point, he tied her up and raped her. She tried to fight him off at first, but the more she struggled the more he pistol-whipped her in the head with the gun. With blood gushing from the side of her face, Sasha -succumbed by her injuries - gave up fighting. After he finished raping her, the assailant started taken items out of her house. It was such a traumatic experience that Sasha had to be hospitalized. She had become withdrawn and was severely depressed. She looked like she ways dying. Her fragile body was down to only 100 pounds. She wouldn't eat and began to lose more weight. After several months of psychiatric treatment, Sasha's condition had improved, but she was still traumatized. She could never return to the house where she was attacked and had to move. However, she still didn't feel safe in her new place either. At least until she met Capaone.

Another Attack...
As fate would have it, Sasha would become a victim of another break-in. But this time Capone was there to protect her. As the intruder tried to enter through a glass patio door, Capone grabbed him by the leg and started biting him, bringing him to his knees. During this time, Sasha called the police. What happened next set off a fatal chain of events. As the police entered her house, they saw Capone attacking the intruder. However, they couldn't get the dog off of him so they shot Capone twice in the back. Sasha screamed as she cuddled her companion while the police scuffled to arrest the man who tried to break in. Sasha was too distraught to care what else was going on. She cried as Capone died in her arms.

After the second attack and the loss of her best friend, Sasha became suicidal. She no longer had faith in humanity and felt she didn't want to be a part of this evil world anymore. After writing a suicidal note, Sasha killed herself with Capone's leash. After several days missing, her parents found her hanging from the pole in her bathroom. The suicide note read..."Dear loved ones...I am sorry but I can no longer live in a world like this!...A world where you can't feel safe in your own home...A world where your own dog is killed for doing his job in protecting you...He was the only thing that kept me sane...Made me feel alive...Gave me hope. And a world without my Capone is not worth living. Please cremate us and spread our ashes together over the ocean at our favorite place by the rocks." Reluctantly Sasha's parents fulfilled their daughter's dying wishes. Sasha and Capones's ashes are now part of the Pacific Ocean.

"Insatiable"

Short Story | Fiction | by ReDDVoice

Home Alone...
One of the saddest days for some military families is the day their loved ones have to leave. On any ordinary day, it wasn't unusual to see several buses in the commissary parking lot with crying families gathering to say their final goodbyes. The worst part was seeing the buses as they drove away. Watching the soldiers hands disappear in a distant, as they wave goodbye out the windows.

It was a sad day for Amber, but it wasn't her first rodeo. Her husband was always gone. This time, he was being deployed to Iraq. As a military wife, Amber expected to be alone from time to time, but she could never quite get used to it. Amber tried to keep busy, spending most of her days working or shopping at the PX on base. However, she was lonely and needed more. Unfortunately, her boring lifestyle didn't fulfill her insatiable appetite for sex. She loved her husband, but she gave in to her desires. As soon as Amber's husband left to go overseas, she started meeting and having sex with other military men. She never got caught, but her luck was running out.

Home Alone Forever...
It was time for Amber to say her goodbyes again. Her husband was to be gone for another six months. This time, he was going away to Japan for training. Immediately Amber started seeing other men again. But this time she was getting bolder. She started inviting them to her place and having sex in her bed. One day there was a knock at the door. It was a man dressed in a military uniform. Amber immediately jumped out of bed and put on her robe. Thinking it was her husband she ran downstairs only to find a soldier at the door. He announce that her husband was killed in a training accident. Amber was in shock. She dropped to her knees and cried out,"Nooooooo! This can't be true!"

After she shut the door, her lover came running down the stairs to see what was wrong. With tears in her eyes she looked at him then she put him out. Shutting the door behind him, Amber fell to the floor again. "God, why is this happening?" she yelled. In that moment, she realized she may have gotten away with cheating, but it was karma at the door that day. Amber learned the saddest day is not actually seeing your loved ones leave, but the day you find out they're never coming back.

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Mental Health Awareness: Behind the Mask

Commentary | Mental Health | by ReDDVoice

When you look at someone, you may actually be seeing a mask. The image they want to project. On the outside, they may appear to be happy. However, deep down inside they are hurting, often wishing they were dead. This is true for many who suffer with mental illness. Often times, people are too ashamed to share their experiences out of fear of being judged by society. This stigma is why many continue to suffer.

Testimony...
Sarah worked in corporate America. She had an administrative job, where image was very important. Each day she got dressed up for work, always wearing makeup and sporting the latest fashions. By all accounts, she "had it all together", but that was far from the truth. While she put on a front for her co-workers, inside she was an emotional wreck. She started missing some days from work, but no one saw the warning signs. After many years of hiding the symptoms of her bipolar disorder, she couldn't take it anymore. She attempted to take her own life, but fortunately she was unsuccessful. She eventually got the help that she needed, but was too ashamed to return to work.

Sarah's story is all too common. Many people like her are suffering in silence because they are hiding behind a mask.

Here are some tips:

1. Talk with someone about your feelings ~ Don't suffer alone. Find a therapist or someone you can trust to confide in.

2. Take time out ~ Take a day off to relax and regroup. Practice self-care.

3. Boost your self esteem ~ Engage in activities that make you feel good about yourself.

4. Be honest with yourself ~ Don't be ashamed to admit you have issues.

5. Know the warning signs ~ Seek help when you feel overwhelmed or suicidal.

"Diamond"

Short Story | Fiction | by ReDDVoice

Diamond wasn't your typical stripper. She wasn't doing it to pay her way through college. She didn't have bills to pay. In fact, she came from a rich family. She simply loved to dance and the rush she felt when men lust over her. Diamond was 19, beautiful and sexy. When she walked into a room, people would stop and stare. She had a body like Kim Khardasian and loved to flaunt it. She wanted the attention, but she was naive to the many dangers of her profession.

How It All Began...
After high school, Diamond decided not to attend college and started dancing at a popular gentlemen's club in Los Angeles. Her parents were disappointed, but they supported her decision in hopes she would change her mind after a year. They had been saving for her education and wanted her to pursue a career they could be proud of, but Diamond had other aspirations. She wanted to prove she could make it on her own. And she did just that! In just a short time, she became one of the top dancers. She was addicted to the hustle. There was a private room in the back of the club the women would use for their clients. Diamond started making most of her money in this room, performing special lap dances. Soon some of the other women were starting to become jealous. They would do things to sabotage her, often trying to steal her customers. A few times Diamond left work to find the tires of her BMW slashed. No matter how hard they tried to hurt her, she was not deterred. In fact, their behavior motivated her to succeed even more. She was making so much money she wasn't paying attention to the pending plot against her.

Fight For Her Life...
What started off as simple jealousy turned into something a little more sinister. One day, some of the strippers got together to come up with a plan to get rid of her once and for all. They decided to pay some crazy guy to rough her up, hoping she would quit. However, things took a dark turn. Instead of just beating her up, the guy kidnapped and raped her. He assaulted her with a pipe and cracked her skull. When he was finished with her, he tied her up in the abandoned warehouse and left her there to die. After not hearing from Diamond for several days, her parents began to worry. They contacted her employer only to be told they hadn't heard from her. Eventually they contacted the police and filed a missing persons report. Diamond was hurt and losing a lot of blood. Falling in and out of consciousness, she managed to free herself and called for help.

Seeking Revenge...
While Diamond didn't know the identity of her attacker at the time, she knew who sent him. During the assault, he mentioned he was a frequent customer and that he was paid to hurt her. Not expecting her to survive, he also told her the truth about who hired him. Diamond withheld this information from the police, as she wanted her own justice. She eventually recovered from her injuries, but never returned to her job as a stripper. Instead, she spent the next several months exacting her revenge. She bought a gun off the streets and showed up at the strip club one night. She put on a wig and disguised herself. With evil in her eyes, she walked through the dressing rooms searching for her victims. One by one she shot all three of them, killing them instantly. People where running everywhere trying to get out. In the chaos, she managed to get away through a back door without detection. No one ever found out that the shooter was Diamond. And since the deceased women never told anyone else, no one suspected her.

A year went by and Diamond tried to go on with her life, but she couldn't get over knowing the guy who beat and raped her was still out there. She would get her chance to settle her final score. One day she sat in the parking lot, hoping to see him again. After several nights, she got lucky. She saw him leaving the club and followed him home. When he got out of his car, she shot him in the back of the head and fled the scene. Now that it was all over, Diamond went on with her life as if nothing had ever happened. Although she felt justified, she realized that her need for attention caused her to take a wrong turn. However, Diamond turned her life around and graduated from college. She never looked back.


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"Finding Solace"

Short Story | Fiction | by ReDDVoice

The Accident...
Reports were called in to a 9-1-1 dispatcher about a hit-and-run accident near interstate 285, a major highway in Atlanta, Ga. Joy rushed to the hospital as soon as she heard the news her husband's car had been involved. She arrived to the ER in a panic. Leaning over her husband's bedside, Joy was so devastated by what she saw. "No! Not my baby! Please do something!", Joy screamed as she hugged him closer, getting blood all over her clothes. His prognosis was not good. He was unrecognizable. He had been smashed by a truck. His body was completely swollen from all the hospital fluids. But Joy did not give up. Everyday she stayed by his bedside praying he would recover. He was in a medically-induced coma and had tubes coming from everywhere. The doctors didn't expect him to live long.

A couple of weeks after the accident, Joy found out that her husband was actually brain dead. The doctors told her that he would not survive, as his organs were shutting down. Joy had a decision to make. She could not accept the reality of losing him, but she didn't want him to continue to suffer either. If she pulled the plug, she would be left alone. Something she was not prepared for. After much consideration, she made the difficult decision to let him go. She stood by her husband's bedside in a daze as the medical staff removed him from all the machines one by one while they monitored his vitals. After several minutes, they all watched as Joy's husband slowly slipped away. His heart came to a complete stop. He was pronounced dead! Joy fell to the floor sobbing profusely. "Why me, God?...Why?"

Losing Faith...
After losing her husband, Joy also lost her faith. She was now alone and mad with God for taking away the only thing she felt ever meant anything to her. After the funeral she became isolated and depressed. She had taken leave from work and spent most of her days crying and drinking. Not a day went by that she didn't think about her husband and the love they shared. She could only reminisce about her favorite part of their honey moon...sitting under a palm tree on the beach. But those thoughts were quickly replaced by feelings of abandonment and despair. Joy was in so much pain she started using pills to cope. Her doctor had prescribed her anxiety pills and she was taking several per day. However, this was not enough to replace the grief she was feeling. She needed something else to fill the void. Joy started going to bars and picking up random men. She was having sex with them in bathrooms, cars and hotels...wherever she could. She got a high every time she engaged in sexual acts and in that moment, she was numb...She didn't feel any pain.

Revelation...
Joy repeated the same behavior over the next several months until one day she met a person who would change her life. Joy met the one person she started to like. He was a handsome, young man in his late thirties. She met him in a bar and they would start having sex in the bathroom and again at hotels. One day during pillow talk, he said he had done something really horrible that he had never told anyone. Feeling comfortable with Joy, he confessed, "Do you remember hearing about that fatal accident on I-285 a few months ago? Well, that was me! I was the guy that ran away and I feel so bad about it. It's been haunting me." Joy was in shock! As she sat naked on the edge of the hotel bed covered in a blanket, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Speechless, she got up, grabbed her clothes and ran into the bathroom. How could this be happening?, she thought. As Joy was getting dressed, she started thinking. Maybe this was not a chance meeting. Perhaps it was divine intervention or just plain fate. What if I can get him to turn himself in?, she thought. Pushing past the fact that she just slept with the man who killed her husband, she figured she would give it a try. Without revealing her identity, she was able to convince the young man to do the right thing. It wasn't easy but she drove him to the police station and watched as they put the handcuffs on him. It was then that she realized she didn't have to drink or sleep with men to escape her life. Joy learned that God had never forsaken her. That life has a way of coming full circle when you least expect it. Not only did she find herself again, but she found solace in knowing justice was served for her husband's death.

"Escape"

Short Story | Fiction | by ReDDVoice

Winnie lived in a dysfunctional household with her family in Brooklyn, NY. At age 5, she had already experienced more than a child should see. There was always chaos, yelling and violence. Her father, an alcoholic, was so abusive that he had even broken her mother's jaw, requiring it to be wired shut. Winnie eventually ran away with her mother and five older siblings to escape. But after attempting to hide out from her father for several days, he found their family staying in the Bronx with her mother's aunt. What he did next was inconceivable.

The Devil Appears...
Her father came over in the middle of the night, dressed in all black and carrying a gun. He set the apartment building on fire trying to flush her family out. The sleeping family were awakened by a dog barking near a back window and they could smell smoke coming from the outside hallway in front of the door. Winnie was so scared. "Mama, what's going on? Are we going to die?", she asked in horror. Her mother, reassuring her that everything was going to be ok, grabbed the kids and hid them in the bathroom. "Call 9-1-1!", her aunt screamed. Her mother knew it wasn't just a fire, but that her husband had come for them. She remembered his promise to kill them if she ever left him. He had been all over the borough looking for them and found out where they were staying. The family was trapped inside the apartment building, not wanting to exit through the window in fear the father was waiting to kill them outside. Although the building could have gone up in flames, it's a good thing her mom followed her instincts to remain safe. By the time the fire department got there, her father was gone. Desperate, the mom grabbed the kids and headed down south in the middle of night. They moved to a small town in Georgia where they stayed with a family friend until they could get on their feet. They were safe for now, but trouble would soon follow.

On the Run...
It had been months since their escape and the family was adjusting to their new surroundings. Although they were scared of being found again, they were enjoying the simplicity of country living. It was a bit of a culture shock for them, but anything was better than where they came from. Winnie's mother found a job and soon they moved into their own place. Life was starting to look up for them again. Winnie and her siblings were enrolled in school. After the end of the year, Winnie's oldest brother went back to New York to visit family members for the summer. He ran into his father by accident and was so happy he received his driver's license that he told his dad about it. In an attempt to find out where they were living, he asked his son to show his ID, which displayed their current address. The chance encounter would spark a chain of events that would change their lives forever.

After a year of looking for his family, Winnie's dad now knew where they stayed. He came up with a plan. He drove down to Georgia and came to their house. Winnie's mom, who had recently bought a handgun, was still afraid of him but came out on the porch to talk. He apologized and pretended to want his family back. He even cried. He said all the right things and after much convincing, her mother let him in. Winnie was scared but as the baby, she was just glad to see her dad again. He moved in with the family. At first, things seemed to be pretty normal. But after failed attempts to find a job with a criminal history, Winnie's dad was back to drinking. And soon, he was back to his old self, yelling and screaming at everyone. One day when her mom came home from work late, he punched her in the face and accused her of cheating. Winnie was so upset all she could do was hug her mom as she saw her crying on the kitchen floor.

No More Running...
Later that night, Winnie's father continued drinking and she could hear yelling coming from her mother's room. After a while, things seemed to quiet down and Winnie drifted off to sleep. Around 3 o'clock in the morning Winnie and her siblings were awakened by four loud gunshots. Pop, pop, pop, pop! Her mom had shot her dad in the head. She was sick and tired of the abuse and wanted it to end. Before he passed out drunk he told her that he was going to kill her, the kids and then himself the next day. And she believed him! Her mother knew from before that he was serious and she was not going to allow him to make good on his promise this time. While Winnie's mother gathered their belongings, Winnie snuck into the room and saw her father on the bed bleeding from his head. "Daddy are you ok?", she screamed as she watched him dying. Her mother grabbed her and left the house and she never saw him again. Winnie's mom was later arrested for murder. However, because of the years of documented abuse, she was released on bail and was never convicted due to self defense. The family was traumatized by the incident, but were eager to put the past behind them. Winnie escaped with her life, but will forever be haunted by the sounds of those four shots ringing in her head.


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