She cowered in the corner of her room , where she had been ordered to stay.

The
same corner, where nightmares turned into reality.
Fear welled up within her, intense fear. Though it was not a new thing, on every
Saturday, it had to happen. And just like before, she had to face it. She had no
choice.
She could hear the footsteps coming from outside the room. With every sound of
step, her fear increased more. She squeezed shut her eyes, and shut her ears
tightly, with the hope of suppressing the sound, the terror. The terror of an
inevitable happening.
The door opened slowly, she could hear it, despite of covering her ears and on an
impulse, she shrinked towards the wall. If she could, she would have absorbed
herself into the wall, but of course, she couldn’t. Eyes still shut, she could feel the
monster moving towards the light switch. The lights went out, and darkness
engulfed the room, and her hopes.
In a deep voice, full of mock sweetness, he said “ Oh my sweetie, come to me
now. Why are you sitting there ?”
Tears welled in her eyes, as she felt the man brandishing the stick from behind
the cupboard, where he always hid it, and then with a swish came the first blow
on the right arm, then another and another. She lost count ,and it took all her
might to endure it. She tried to remain still, to suppress her screams, as she had
been ordered to do so, and that 6 year old was too obedient . Then, the beating
stopped and terror seized her again, as she knew what would come next.
She woke up with a jolt. Another nightmare. The past still didn’t let her sleep.
She switched on the lamp on her side table, poured a glass of water from the
pitcher and tried to drink it, breathing heavily .She took her glasses , along with
her diary and the pen from the table. The clock showed that it was 3:00am, but
she couldn’t sleep. The past won’t let her sleep.
In the diary, she continued from where she had left, the diary, whose contents
would soon be made public, in the speech she planned to make , on an event
organized by her university, called “Break the Silence”. After years, she had finally
mustered the courage to break the silence..
“It would've been better”, she wrote “if he would have just stuck with beating
me, that was more than enough, but the molesting, that-“she stopped short , as
the past was now right in front of her eyes, the fear was back again , making her
breath more heavily. She found herself in the same corner, in the same darkness.
She knew why all that happened. “Your father has ruined me, both of us started
the business together, but now he is my BOSS!” , he used to say during the
beatings “Who is he to rule over me, huh? He loves you, my sweetie, I know he
does. But even he can’t save you from me , my sweetie”.
Revenge. And she was to suffer.
It happened on Saturdays, as according to their schedule, her parents had to
leave for some other city for two days, for work, leaving their ‘most trusted' man
to ‘take care' of her while they were away. And she couldn’t speak about it ,
because if she would, the man would do ‘worse’, as he always threatened her.
After calming her breathe, she headed towards the closest 24 hrs. open library,
with her diary and pen, to the only place where she found peace .She had this
fear of darkness, of being alone. Every night , it would take her hours to fall asleep
in the dark, but she couldn’t turn the lights on while sleeping, as she shared the
room with her room mates, who were still unaware of her past and she had
resolved to speak it out on the most anticipated day. She still had to gather much
courage .So, darkness too, she had to endure. Dark room, dark past.
In the library, after taking a deep breathe, she started writing. Once again, she
found herself in the dark room, but this time, she found some courage , and
started writing again. Writing it all was more agonizing, but she kept writing. After
the self struggle of about 1 year, she had decided that she would say it all, and
would ruin the person who had ruined her. A walking nightmare, a wolf in sheep's
clothing who was. She was going to complete the story, that how after suffering
for 6 months, finally her parents had caught that man, by luck, and when finally
she got rid of that room, that corner.
15 years had passed. Now, she was a brilliant scholar, but with a dark past. She
had decided that she would utilize her abilities, and would say it all. One day.
5 MONTHS LATER…
Her name was finally called out, and towards the dais, she went. She had thought
about it thousands of times, about how people would judge her, how that man
can harm her again for revealing it, and many other consequences. But, she
realized, that unlike before, she wasn’t afraid. She had to leave that dark room.
Taking the mic, she spoke. Words kept flowing out, sometimes , her voice
quivering and cracking, but she moved on. The journalists from famous news
agencies were present, listening and recording it all. She didn’t cry or cower this
time, instead, she was satisfied about the fact that the monster would be
listening. And he must know now, that she wasn’t a weak girl now. Not anymore.

Author: Ashna Altaf

Phone number : 03330234981
CNIC no : 4220186413898
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