CHINA TORI

At 4am the next day, Grace woke up with a start. There had been a bang, a slap and then a thud. “Food thieves”, she thought, but then came a scream. Grace quickly pushed her covers aside and reached for the glass cup beside her. Yes, she may be small, but she has dealt with their kind before. She listened to hear where the screams were coming from and was shocked at what she discovered – they were coming from the adjoining room and from her aunt.

Quietly, Grace returned the cup and got down from her bed. She tiptoed to the door and there she froze. “You will get the worst out of me today if you don’t tell me what you drugged me with”, David shouted and Grace almost jumped out of her skin. When she jumped, she pushed the glass of water her aunt kept by her bedside the night before.

Confused, she ran to it, turned and grabbed her socks and began to soak the spilled water. A few minutes later and with shaky hands, she managed to get some off the rug. She sighed and made to get up when the first slap landed. Glass, water and socks fell off her hands as both hands flew to her face. It was so thunderous that she had to cover her mouth to stop herself from screaming. She came to and ran back to the door. From where she was standing, she could hear Aunt Isabella whimpering in pain. “God, what has she done to get this kind of beating this early morning?” she wondered.