This is a story that I started writing in my 9th grade and couldn't continue afterwards. I am going to resume back very soon. Any feedback is highly appreciated.

CHAPTER 1

My life changed forever at twelve and I can still hear the deep dangerous voice of my aunt booming every time, making me frightened that she might come some day to threaten me to work all day and night as she had done in the past,  beginning from the moment when I first learned how to walk. My life seems much simpler after I fought that unforgettable battle with my aunt, trying to sought out that maelstrom and I am glad that I have succeeded…………..though not thoroughly.

It was mid December of 1999 when I was just about 8 years old, enjoying the scene of snow -capped mountains of far away land through the window of the storehouse where I have been spending all those terrible nights, always having night mares rather than good dreams. By seeing those piled snow everywhere of the night's hard work by the black clouds, I immediately wanted to rush outside to play with neighbor's children by making snow man or hitting snow ball to each other.

I wanted to know how it feels to be and play with children of my own age since my aunt always leave me grounded in the house for whole day, giving me a pile of works to be done which includes mopping, sweeping, dish washing and doing laundry before she returns from her work or sometimes barbecue……..but I have missed all these happy days of childhood unlike those of other children around me and in my mind, I used to believe that my aunt or say that evil woman will never give me a sense of emancipation for the entire life of mine, torturing me day and night, complaining about things that is none of her business like saying that I am ugly or like I am bearing stench without exactly knowing that it was her who is responsible for locking me into the store house while she slept on the soft bed having sweet dreams. During that time, I wanted to yell and shout at God for the unfairness and misjudgments. I wanted to know exactly why God is punishing me by giving so many arbitrary detentions which is, in fact, deserved by that old hag.

CHAPTER 2

If God had been fair enough, she should have been dead by any second or she should have had a car accident. My only hope was to wait for a miracle to happen.

Without having any destination, I have lived all these years: frightened, tremulous and deprived like a girl left isolated in a drought; frightened that some voracious creatures will grab her and chew her in any second; tremulous when the dusk comes bringing the chilly wind and deprived of not having even a single droplet of water to banish the dryness of her throat. I was like that girl in a drought or …………..worse may be.

Not only did her knavish behavior frightened me but also her physique appearance. I heard she had once been a famous athlete, and even now the muscles were still clearly in evidence. You could see them on temple, in the big shoulders, in the thick arms, in the sinewy wrists and in the powerful legs. Looking at her, you get the feeling that this was someone who could bend iron bars and tear telephone directories in half. I'm afraid; she was neither a thing of beauty nor a joy forever. She had an obstinate chin, wrinkled lines around her eye lashes with protruding arrogant eyes and a cruel cave like mouth. And as for clothes………they were to say the least, extremely odd. She always had on a faded grey jacket, crinkled skirt and a high-heeled slipper which seems too small to support the weight of that hefty woman.

Mrs. Linda, my aunt as I called her for being my dad's sister, was something else together. She was a gigantic holy terror, a fierce tyrannical witch that frightened the life out of me all the time. There was an aura of menace about her even at a distance, and when she comes up close, you could almost feel the horrible heat radiation from her like a planet Venus. She never takes saunter nor walks peacefully once but march like a storm-trooper with long strides and arms swinging making everybody on the street precarious to walk near her. This woman, in all her eccentricities and in her appearance is almost indescribable but I have made my best attempt to do so. I always wondered when she would leave my side as I had longed very much for her absence to fell peace and harmony in my soul.

CHAPTER 3

Just when I was about to turn my head from the window, satisfied and contended with myself for enjoying the scene outside, I heard my aunt marching upstairs to my room making creaky sound beneath her feet and….yah, she was calling my name, 'Jenny, Jenny, Jenny, are you there dead?' Her voice grew fiercer and louder each time making my heart beat louder than ever. In a split second, I felt numb without being able to answer, already knowing what will happen next. I hid myself in the corner of the store house, my body trembling out of fear. The door then flung open and there, she was standing with raged wide eyes bearing a scowling face. I immediately searched her hands with my eye ball rolling to and fro to see with what she was going to beat me this time.

'Oh! No! God, she is going to beat me with hose! Someone please save me.'  Silently I begged and prayed that she will melt away in front of me like a snowman but when I saw her still glaring at me angrily, I knew instantly that my prayers won't be answered and that I will soon be weeping, throwing my guilt and sorrow. She hastily and aggressively grabbed my left arm and dragged me out of the storehouse and then down stairs without even giving me a chance to open my mouth. When she released my arm, I fell on the ground with a loud thud giving me an unbearable pain but it wasn't the worst part. She drew the hose and without giving a chance for me to explain that I didn’t hear her calling or that I was in a deep thought, she straight away started hitting hard on my bottom first, then on the back and then slowly it drew near my neck which gave me the most frightful feeling that I ever had………….I might die under that hose. Immediately I made my best effort to veil my face with both hands though the pain terribly pierced every inch of my body and cut jaggedly through to my heart. She hit and hit without giving a second thought of how badly I was hurt……….and suddenly it ceased. Slowly and steadily, I removed my hands from my face to see if she had disappeared but she hadn't.

'Are you going to sit here like this or are you going to do the dishes I have left in the sink? You fool! You dumb! Why didn’t you answer me when I called you? Now go and do the dishes,' she retorted making an angry face before giving me a chance to exhale the breath I had been holding with exhaustion. During that time, I wanted to fight with her even though I know that I will lose the battle. That's how I was left with nothing to do than to encourage myself to go on with my miserable life and bear the inevitable pain inside my little and solitary heart. I then exasperatingly made up my mind to follow the better path as I was at least given my meal thrice a day, be it leftover of her food or not.

With one of my hands on the floor, I supported myself and slowly made up on my feet, and then passed her with my eyes down on the floor without even looking to the direction of the kitchen. Though some parts of my body burnt with pain, I didn’t let my eyes see those swollen spots which I felt already and kept on doing the dishes one at a time and that too in vague. At last, I finished with a huge sigh of relief. At that very moment, the pain became unbearable so I went to the dining room to see my swollen back and leg which looked worse than ever. By seeing the blots of gore everywhere on my body parts, I buried my face with my two hands not to see them any further but sorrow etched so deeply bringing tears, great rivers of silent, anguished tears. I howled more than an hour like a wounded animal, spilling the guilt and sorrow that almost tore my heart into millions of fragments.  I cried and cried till my stomach ached out of pain and my eyes became bumpy with swollen spots. I wanted so badly to pour down my feelings to someone but who will be this SOMEONE? Who will listen to a poor and an unadorned girl like me? Who will care about me? Who will believe me if I explain like what a life I had been leading so far? Most of all….who will believe if I tell them that it was my AUNT who treats me that way? Obviously, the answer will be NO ONE!

'Jenny………..Jenny………….Jenny', my name was being called again and at that time, I dashed to where the voice was coming from without bothering about the pain that was almost killing me……..because I didn’t want to get beaten again.

'Aunt? What can I do for you?' I humbly and politely asked her. She didn’t bark at me this time, perhaps due to my politeness, and explained briefly, 'Jenny, I have to go outside for a work. The snow hasn’t melted yet and has covered the foot path all over so sweep them before I return at lunch time’. With that she turned her back and slipped silently through the back door without glancing back. I kept my eyes fixed at her until she had disappeared from my view, wondering why she is being so unfair, unkind and unsympathetic to me.

The breakfast did well after going through all these traumatic experiences though it was plain bread and a cup of tea. I voraciously gobbled them up knowing that I don’t have much time. Then with spade in my hand, off I went to start my work. A heap of thick snow has piled and I couldn’t even see well in the distant because of the reflected rays entering directly into my eyes. The thought of having to clear all these elevated snow formed a tight knot in my stomach.

I started my task and didn’t take a rest for the next few hours but the height of the snow piled didn’t seem to decrease and on top of that, wounds around my left leg seemed to become worse than ever and it pained badly when came in contact with the cold snow. But I didn’t quit and continued to sweep one after the other and irritatingly, the hand of hour seemed to tickle fast by each time when I looked at it making me frightened, as I had to accomplish the work before she reached home. Tears blinded my eyes and slowly it started to stream down my two crimsoned cheeks. I have been wondering throughout those abject years of where my parents could be or why they ever left me.

Then I try to push back my thoughts thinking that whatever had brought me here, there must be a good reason or even if there wasn’t, what the use of thinking anyway is. It will be wastage of time……….I used to give this as an excuse to banish those unsettling feelings in my mind but the sadness is so profound when the word 'PARENTS' hit my mind.

In truth I actually wanted to know why they ever left or what difficulties they might have faced to leave me all behind. I wanted to know very badly about each and every details of what ever had happened at their earliest. But……how? How will I ever know? Will I ever even know in future? These are the question that has been haunting me all those years but of course they never quit……..even now.

The only way through which I can know the truth is to ask my aunt but I don’t have the guts to ask and besides, I am completely sure that she will have me devoured rather than telling me anything if I do so. Therefore, I don’t have any choice left.

While I was having those miserable thoughts, suddenly I felt some one approaching near me and I was numb in a second………I haven't completed my work as she ordered and then I knew I was in for it again. My body was shaking terribly out of fear and I failed to make a turn-around.

'Can I help you, my little child?' ………..Am I imagining of hearing that sentence in lieu of aunt's harsh words? No………….it can't be possible. And yah, I heard it correctly………..she is not my aunt. Thank God!

'Can I help you, my little child?' You see, I was right. She repeated it and I heard it clearly. Thank God again. You saved me, you really did.

'My child?' On hearing her for the third time, I turned to look around without having a single doubt.

She is a young woman in her mid twenties and has a swarthy complexion. She had worn a black t-shirt matching her face and a loose jean pant. Her hair has been wound into a tight figure-eight knot at the base of her neck in which she looks more like a mother in spite of her young age. There is a serenity and peace on her face which urged me forward to ask her name.

'I am Samantha Taylor, staying just near your house,' she answered briefly as if she was in a hurry.

'Oh! So I never noticed,' I replied her which seemed more like a question than a statement. 'I am Jenny and I live with my aunt.' I hated myself for using the word AUNT because she is worse than everyone in this world! She doesn’t deserve to be called as an aunt!

'Don’t you have any big brother or sister?' she asked me sympathetically and I immediately I knew that she felt pity upon me for doing such an arduous work, all by myself.

'No, I am alone with her.' This time I felt happy and proud of myself for using the word HER.

But my heart wasn’t at peace and I can hear my own heart beat pounding faster and louder after each passing second. What if she comes and sees me with a stranger having conversation? What will happen then? Only God knows.

'Will you let me to join in work? I don’t have much work at home so it will be a good idea to give a hand. I can help you,' she asked me and I felt bit embarrassed by knowing that she had detected my uneasiness and fear inside me.

'It will be a pleasure for me. Thank you,' I answered quickly to conceal my shyness though I knew that shade of crimson on my face has already proved my true nature……………shy and timid.

We started working after the brief conversation. With each passing minute, the height of the snow kept decreasing and at last we worked everything out, leaving a clear foot path visible in distance. I felt so relieved to see our complete task which meant…………no beating, no howling.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw her removing a pearl of sweat from her forehead with the handkerchief. When I looked at her, she looked back and gave a triumphant smile just like a small child of age about eight after getting a cone-shaped chocolate ice-cream by the result of tugging her mother's sleeve for an hour. She is a wonderful woman; elegant, jovial, candid and compassionate too. She has a lovely physique appearance and I liked her about everything…….she is angelic. May be God had sent her for me after all these dreadful and horrible years which felt like an aeon. 'Now we are done. Hmm……..Do you have any other work or do you want to visit my house? I will just show you around my house if time permits you. I am alone because my parents went for trip and my siblings are away for further studies. May be we can have a good time,' she said tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She has a silky, shiny and long straight hair, and I wish she will keep it falling loosely on her back.