A quivering child of five
Shivering in a dark, lonely coner
Despirately she trys to muffle all sound
Yet she can't even manage that
Every sob and sniffle
Has her frantic eyes screaming across the room.
She reminds you of a battered animal
Afraid to be alone
Yet afraid to be noticed
Trying to lick her bleeding and bruised flesh
While watching everything all at once.

You carefully approach her
Unnoticed yet by her
As you get closer you see
Her body jerking with silent sobs
Her face red with effort to hold in any noice
Which might betray her hiding place
Even in the dim light
The fresh bruises and swollen flesh is noticable
The finger prints left their mark
On her throat and arms
Her hair is tangled and missing in some places.

Her whole body stiffens
Fearful eyes lock with yours
She knows you are there
Softly you croon to her
"It's ok, I won't hurt you,"
You approach her slowly
Noticing the frail body try to melt into the wall.

"Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you.
I just want to tell you a story."
You sit down a few feet from her
And look at her, waiting for a reply
Finally a curt nod comes.

Quietly, so not to scare her, you tell her your story. There once was a girl who was always being picked on. This girl would often be playing by herself, being good and a mean boy would come and hit her for no reason. At first the mean boy would only hit her once or twice and then leave her alone. Then he would only hit her until she cried, then until she would bleed. Until finally, this mean boy had gotten away with hurting this little girl that he would beat her until she was bleeding and hurt very badly. The little girl would always say that she fell down the stairs, or out of bed, or hurt herself while playing. Never telling that it was the mean boy who hit her. One night, the little girl went to bed and had a dream. She dreamt that the mean boy beat her so badly that she died. Then she woundered around and seen everyone crying and seen how many people loved her and missed her now that she was dead. Then she seen a little girl who was similar to her age, sitting under a tree, quietly playing with a doll. Then the mean boy came up and started to hit the little girl and then ran away. Day after day, the mean boy hurt the little girl, first until she cried, then bled, then until she was very badly hurt. When the little girl woke up from her dream she was very scared. She didn't want to die, nor let the mean boy hurt anyone else. She laid back down and thought out a plan. The next morning the little girl went down the stairs and to school. Her teacher asked her "What happened? Did you fall out of bed again?" "No there is this very mean little boy who has been hurting me. I never told on him because I was afraid that he wouls hurt me even more. But if I don't stop him then he might hurt another little girl and I don't want anyone else to get hurt." The teacher gave the little girl a big hug and told her that she had done the right thing and that the mean boy wouldn't hurt her anymore. The little girl was very lucky. But she realized that if she hadn't told someone about the mean boy hurting her, then he still might be hurting her now or someone else.

The child had moved closer to you
Leaning forward slightly
Hanging off of every word
Where before there had been only fear in her eyes
Now there was hope.
You lean forward and ask the girl
"Do you understand the story?"
She nods her head solemnly
And opens her mouth to say something
Then her father walks into the room.
"Come on child, I'll not wait for you 1 more min."
The fear flashes back in her eyes
She jumps up and limps out after her father
Shoulders slumped.
Head down.
Hope gone.