Shattered but not Broken

Let me make this clear, This is a work of Fiction. This has nothing to do with my life, or me at all. I have had a very happy childhood, and great parents !!!1

CHAPTER ONE2

Very rough draft of this piece, be honest with your R&R's.3

Certain events in this life are unavoidable. They do not follow a set path, and for the most part, they just happen. For instance sickness and death are unavoidable. There are also instances where one may feel too weak or scared to seek help. Scared of the reaction their problem may incite. 4

I am so scared. The problem has grown from a sporadic occurence, to an almost nightly issue. I am scared for myself, but more scared for my little sister, Alison. The abuse that I endure is physical, Alison wasn't beaten; she was sexually abused, on a nightly basis. He never hit her, not wanting her to be bruised and swollen for their nightly intercourse. 5

Our father has not always been like this, he used to be a decent, caring man. Those days are over, long ago. After the death of our mother last year, he started to drink, excessively. Something inside of him snapped. He lost his job at the factory, for failing to show up; he just stopped caring.6

A few months ago, when money got real tight, he was forced to get another job. He now works as a janitor at the local high school, Plainview High. Located in the small town of Plainview, Missouri, which is where our family resides. Thank God we do not go to Plainview High yet, I couldn't bear him working where I go to school.7

My name is Josh Gellar, I am twelve years old. I go to Gray Road Middle School, and am in the 8th grade. My sister Alison is ten years old and is in the 6th grade. She goes to Gray Road Elementary.8

Our father started on his downward spiral when he was forced to get the janitorial job at the high school. The stress of his new job and his uncontrollable drinking became a lethal catalyst.9

Alison, who was once a stellar, brilliant student, began to let her grades slide. She began to close her self up into a shell, cutting her self off from the rest of the world. She began to lose all interest in grades, and school, for that matter.10

I, however cherished every second I was on the school property. My father could not lay a hand on me there, I loved that sense of security. I always dreaded the bus ride home, knowing I only had an hour until father burst through the door, going off on one of his rampages. He usually got off work at 4:45, I got home at 3:30, so I would spend a good hour and fifteen minutes dreading the fact that he would come walking through that door. 11

My hatred for him goes so deep, it almost scares me. I know the things he does to Alison, though she never talks about it. I want to kill him so badly! At night I devise new ways to torture him, and to make him feel a tenth of the pain that he has made us endure.12

Most of all, I miss my mother. I miss the way things used to be. We used to be a family, a happy and loving family. Just like any other family, we were happy. I remember on my tenth birthday my parents threw me a surprise party. They invited all my friends, and we had a blast. They bought me a huge cake, with those candles that you can't blow out. I remember, vividly, my father putting his arm around me, and telling me how proud he was of his little boy, and how much he loved me. 13

I remember Alison gave me a Rubix cube, which I finished and stored in my dresser, and a hand-made card. It is hard to explain, but me and Alison have always had an inseperable bond. She used to follow me around everywhere I went, doing exactly as I did. I know she looks up to me, and I try to be a good example. Our family used to be normal, until Mother died, and Father snapped.14

You might be wondering why I haven't told anyone about what has been going on these past couple of months. The truth is, I am scared. I am afraid he will try and kill us if I tell. He came at me with a knife once, because I forgot to take out the trash. I managed to lock myself in the bathroom, I must have stayed in there for hours. When I dared to come out, he was passed out on the floor, drunk. He has me so scared, I am afraid to step foot in the same room as him. 15