Member-only story
The Porch that Shame Built
Jenny felt that sinking feeling in her stomach, as the sun threatened to go down. She watched with dread, as all her friends disappeared, one by one, at the end of the dirt road. She sat on the rusty nailed, paint peeled step, of a neglected porch. A sad-looking porch, one which reminded her of her position in life.
She picked at the paint with her small, nervous finger. She sighed a heavy, lonely sigh. A sigh that a seven-year-old child should never have to sigh. A sigh so deep, the angels around her felt it.
She was an ashamed and scared seven-year-old child, who hoped her mom would make it home from the bar, before dark. As if she ever did. This was a too normal night for Jenny. The porch was the last dreaded stop before the nightmare began. Again.
She was terrified to be in the big, old creaking house alone at night. Her older brother and sister had grown up and left a couple of years ago. Her brother, escaping to the Army and sissy, to her very own apartment. They had jumped ship, tired of the drunken captain that they all called mom. The captain could no longer maintain this ship and it was way off course. Headed straight for the rocks. With Jenny inside of it.
Jenny thought she would just crawl behind the couch again and sleep. At least the electricity was on this week, and she could leave all the lights on, so…
