That Scream Of Despair

• Olivia Incoll, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2016

That scream of despair still haunts me to this day. It has been 11 years but I remember it as if it happened yesterday.
It all started when my sister returned home to find out she had received straight A’s. She was only 10. I was 13 and usually graded with C’s. I only got one B in my entire life and that was in origami; I was pretty sure that was never going to help me out. But I had had enough of it. My sister was always congratulated and received more attention than me. Even for her report, my parents invited all my relatives for dinner, except one, my uncle. Our most hated uncle. But little did they know that was the worst mistake of their life.
You see, this infuriated him, sparks of anger brewed within. But not because he hadn’t seen his “beloved” family for years, no, they weren’t even close to beloved. It was because my Uncle Charlie was selfish and very cruel. When something angered him he could do anything. He was going to punish us; the worst revenge in history. As my mother’s birthday was getting closer, my Uncle Charlie had a gift for her. The most horrible gift you could ever imagine.
That evening my sister and I had a huge fight. It ended up with broken china and antiques. I did not talk to her for the rest of the night. In the middle of the night, before my mother’s 48th birthday, Charlie came to our house and stole my sister. I heard her scream. I ran out to see my little sister being dragged on the gravel into a big black truck. Tears were streaming down my face. That last scream before the van door shut was that scream of despair.
Time had passed with no sighting of my loving sister and that wretched uncle. They must have been moving from place to place just out of police reach. Rumour has it that my sister was treated like a slave and died of malnutrition. My Uncle Charlie committed suicide before police caught up with him. But I did not care for the fate of my uncle. My sister was gone and the only thing I have left of her now is that dreadful scream that lives on in my nightmares.
This story is about domestic violence and how it dramatically affects the lives of innocent children. Domestic violence - it must stop with you.