The rain and tears in her eyes made his face blurry. She lifted a hand and wiped her eyes. It was her Uncle Dave, her father’s youngest brother.

“It’s okay Laura, it’s all over, you’re safe, let’s get into the house,” he said, gently carrying her across the lawn and onto the porch.

She wanted to talk to him, to say something, but she found all she could do was cry softly. Her body refused to respond, her mind was almost as numb. He took the key from its hiding place under the mailbox and opened the door. As he gently laid her down on the couch in the living room, she curled into a ball, crying, her clothes torn and ripped, soaked from the rain.

“I’m going to the bedroom to get a blanket, I’ll be right back, you’re safe now, I’ll be right back.”

She remembered him wrapping her in the blanket, soothing her with his calm words...

That was five years ago and she had changed so much since that day. She had had wonderful support from her family and friends. But still, there were many things she had to work through. Many more than people knew. People, that was a problem. Initially, every time someone looked at her she felt in her mind, “they know about it, they can tell.” In her mind she became less than human. She ultimately changed her complete identity. She changed the color of her hair and cut it shorter. She began to dress more like a boy, or a nun; high collars, loose fitting shirts, ankle length dresses, if wearing dresses at all. She cut her fingernails as short as she could and never wore nail polish. She stopped wearing makeup overall. There was complete transformation in her identity. If you can picture the end of the universe, the bottom of the ocean, the inside of a black hole, that is where you would find Laura’s identity during those years.

Slowly though, she had begun to work through it, she had to. She knew she had to. Eventually, it had even begun to take on a type of dreamlike reality, but a memory that was still sharp in her mind was when Uncle Dave had called the police and after explaining the situation, put her on the phone.

“Hello, Laura this is Sandy the dispatcher, Melissa, our rape counselor detective is not here tonight, but I’ll give you Detective Mills, he is our senior detective and has been here the longest.”

“Okay.”

There was a slight pause as the call was transferred.

“Hello, Miss Wilson, this is Detective Mills, and I just have a few questions for you.”

“Okay”

“Now first, what were you wearing tonight?”

THE END

copyright July 2000 by M. Nice and S.Carroll