< Alexandria's POV > ( she's now 17 but in her dream she's 7 )

I knocked on the door and shouted "Mummy I'm home!"

I just came back from school. I can't wait to tell mummy the prize I won for being first in the spelling bee category for grade 1! It was a cute Rilakkuma soft toy and I love it so much!

Mummy soon came along and asked me how was my day in school. I told her that it was awesome and I was still hiding my prize behind my back...

"What is that you're hiding dear?" mummy asked curiously.

I smiled cheekily and showed her the soft toy. Her eyes widened when she saw it and I giggled.

"Where did you get it from sweetie?"

"I got it from my school's spelling bee competition for coming in first place," I replied  beamingly.

"Wow! Congratulations honey, you really deserve the prize then. By the way,what are you gonna name it?"

"Hmm, how about... Riley! It's a cute name for a cute toy."

Mummy placed her hand on her chin like a detective on a mission. Then, she nodded her head vigorously and I burst out laughing.

Suddenly, someone snatched the toy away from me and my heart skipped a beat. I looked up and saw that it was...daddy?

"What is this, Alex? Why are you playing with this...this...ugly thing? Why aren't you studying?! You do know that you will have to work very very hard to get a job in the future so that you can raise money for us! Stop playing with all this nonsense and go and study. Now!" Daddy shouted as he threw Riley away as far as possible.

Left with no choice, I nodded my head and went to get my schoolbag to study before throwing one last glance at Riley who was lying face down on the floor.

"And you? Useless mother. Do you care about her well-being and her future? You are already not working because you are so stupid that you can't even get a job! And yet you are still asking the girl to play with her damn toys?!" daddy said to mummy as tears began to form in her eyes. I was watching them from behind a wall to avoid being caught by daddy.

"Brett! Are you crazy? Alex is only seven! At this age, they are supposed to play and bond with their families, not just study and study and study! And, she just came back from school, so she needs to bathe, eat her lunch and freshen up first right?!" mummy raised her voice with all her might, confidence in her words.

But daddy was not going to give up that easily...

"How dare you insult me and go against my orders! You will pay for this! You will be punished!" daddy bellowed.

He slapped her so hard that she tumbled down the stairs and he just watched mercilessly.

"Mummy! NO!" I shouted and ran towards the stairs but daddy managed to grab hold of me in the nick of time.

I tried to wriggle my wrist free form his tight grasp but that just made daddy tighten his grip.

"What are you doing here Alex? Didn't l tell you to study?!?"

"No! I have to save mummy, she is in danger. Please let me go," I tried to break free from his grip and to make him regret what he did but to no avail.

"So you only care about your mother, right? Fine. Go and do whatever you want you stupid girl. I should have known, you are a girl. You are useless and you can't do anything effective for your family," Daddy said and he pushed me away and went into his room.

Sensing an opportunity, I quickly went to mummy's aid, trying my best to ignore whatever daddy had just said.

What I saw was far worse than awful. It was horrible. Blood was oozing out of mummy's forehead and mouth. I tried my best to control the urge to scream out this undying pain.

"Mummy. Mummy please wake up mummy! MUMMY!!" I burrowed my head on her chest and allowed the tears to finally flow.

She was unconscious. And I didn't know what to do. Daddy's right, I am useless. This is all my fault anyway.

"Alex."

Huh? Isn't that... mummy's voice?!?

But.. how?

"Alex, wake up baby, mummy's here," I heard her voice again.

I woke up and scanned my surroundings frantically. I was in my bedroom?

Then I saw mum.

"MUM! OH MY GOD! Are you okay?," I looked at mummy's head and mouth, still wondering what on earth is going on.

"Baby I'm fine. You were having a terrible nightmare. I immediately ran into your room when I heard you screaming in your sleep. I was so worried... I... I can't- "

"No mummy. Your tears are not worth for what he did to us. It's okay. We have to be strong. Don't let a man bring you down. We always have to keep moving on in life," I said confidently, knowing I had enough experience in life.

Mum looked at me and smiled.

"Anyone would look up to you Alex. You're so... strong. You forget all the bad stuff that happens to you but... except for only one. Your dad. He's something neither you and I can never overcome. Everything he did... it impacted our lives so much... that... your life is like this Alex. Had it not been because of us, your parents, you would have a fun and loving life like all 17-year-olds like you should enjoy. I'm so sorry. So sorry," Mum started babbling again and I was starting to get tired.

I mean like, how many times is she gonna apologize? It's not even her fault. It's always Dad's fault. His fault all along.

"Come on mum, stop it. These are all not true. We can definitely overcome him. All we need to do is at least try. You and me, try to forget our past. Please, mum? It's for the best. And whatever you said about those teenagers, you're wrong. Not everyone has a happy life, some even have worse lives than ours. You should know this mum."

"Yeah... you're right. It's surprising that you are the one teaching me instead of me doing it. Anyway, you must be starving by now, shit. I have already made breakfast. Join Jase downstairs to have your pancakes."

"PANCAKES?? You're the best mum."

She just dried her tears with a tissue and stifled a smile.

I quickly ran down the stairs after brushing my teeth and all those stuff to eat my pancakes that are most probably as cold as ice now. I saw Jase on the sofa, watching TV.

"Hey, Jason whatcha doin' bro?" 

He looked up at me and smiled making his chubby cheeks look so much chubbier.

"I'm watching Sesame Street Ale' " he responded and went back to watching his favorite TV show.

He can't pronounce the letter 'x' so he calls me Ale. I know it sounds weird but it's really cute when a four year old says it, trust me.

As I ate my pancakes, I couldn't help but think of the nightmare I just had. I should have known it was a dream, because I was only seven then but right now I'm seventeen... but it just felt so real. Maybe that's why I didn't realize.

Still wondering how Jason came about? Nothing much to say, it's rather obvious. Dad. Even calling him Dad makes me wanna puke. But what can I do? He's still my dad anyway, whether I like it or not. Although sometimes my existence feels like a letter of apology from the condom factory, no doubt about that. 

When I was 12, dad came back to our house for some sort of "revenge". Revenge for what? Revenge for leaving his oh-so-precious house to us, because the property was under his name until mum finally changed it to hers after they divorced.

We were rather shocked when he came back like after 3 years. He told us that he has ended his relationship with Rebecca, that he misses us a lot, and all sorts of nonsense to get his revenge.

He brought along some beer bottles with him and he went inside mum's room. They were in there for I don't know how long but I couldn't do anything at that time because I really didn't know what to do. I heard moaning sounds from mum and loud roars of laughter from dad and I wondered what they were doing. But of course now I know, that dad raped mum.

Sometimes I wonder, could she really be that vulnerable to not realise what he's doing? But then I knew one thing, she was really innocent. 

He brought the beer bottles on purpose so that he could make her drunk. And when someone is drunk, they literally have no idea what they are doing. And so mum didn't stop him. And about a month later, she found out she was pregnant.

She cried, because her life was ruined again. But she didn't want to abort Jason.

"Why kill an innocent life?" mother thought, and I agreed with her. And so 8 months later, Jason entered our world.

I was unhappy at first, because I was used to receiving all the attention from mum, being the only child. But sooner or later, I grew to love him, as I fully understood the responsibilities of being an elder sister.

It was hard to forget whatever dad did to my family, but I knew it was possible.

You must be thinking, why didn't we report this to the police? Think again. What's the point? He will just get arrested or most probably sentence him to death. And then what? The only thing we receive in return is the shame and guilt, when our relatives find out what happened.That my mother, reported her own husband to the police. My mother. She's timid and weak, it was easy for anyone to hurt her. She's naive and she's afraid of people. She was afraid of her family, that never once bothered to ask her how she was or how was life etc. We can try to hide it but the truth would always be revealed somehow. They simply didn't care. All they cared about was their wealth. Nothing else. But as long as I'm alive, I will not let anything happen to mum again. I promise.

After I finished eating, I quickly bathed and looked at my school schedule for the next day. My eyeballs literally popped out. It's tomorrow. My chance, to run in a race. And achieve my goals, hopefully.

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♕♚♕♚♕♚♕♚♕A/N♚♕♚♕♚♕♚♕♚

Okay... So that's all I have for chapter 1. Too emotional? Well, that's the point XP

I will try my best to update once a week, preferably Friday. But if I cannot update, please try to understand that I am busy.

Anyway I have a few important questions to ask:

Do you guys prefer short or long chapters? The word count for this chapter was 1942 words. Let me know in the comments!♡

Do you think Alex will make it and achieve her goal of being a gold medalist in the race? Read on more to find out...;)

This chapter is dedicated to @_brebabe_ for being very nice to me when I first met her ♥
Check out her books, they're amazing!
One of her books "Saving Eileen" is kinda similar to mine so do check it out XD

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! I hope that all your wishes and New Year resolutions will come true!!

That's all I wanna rant about guys! Happy reading!

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