BANG!

• Jacinta Dietrich, Grade 11
• Poetry
• 2009

BANG!
The door slams shut behind him.
I hear smashes and crashes as he stumbles around.
The raging winds hit hard against my bedroom window.
There is a thud.
The thud of someone being pushed against a wall.
A cry escapes my mother's mouth.
My fear builds up like a dam waiting to explode.
There is a thunderclap outside.
A thump on my door and he enters my room.
He drags me out of bed.
He pulls me out of my room.
I see my mother.
He pale face shows bruising already.
She has wet lines where I know the tears have trickled down.
She reaches her hand out to me.
He pulls me away from her grasp.
My dam of fear explodes.
A river of tears winds its way over the contours of my face.
He turns away from my mother and looks at me.
Looks me straight in the eyes.
Then he does something he's never done before.
He hits me.
He hits me once.
He hits me twice.
He hits me three times.
He hits me with three fatal blows.
The last thing I hear is my mother's cries and wails.
The last thing I think is "Why?"
I fall to the ground and shut my eyes...
Never to open them again