Mary's Little Nightmare

When Mary was a young girl, she shared a room with her sister Claire. The two sisters had a bunk bed. Claire slept on the top, and Mary slept on the bottom. Mary had a little secret that she couldn’t tell anyone. She wasn’t sure whether Claire knew or not, but she daren’t bring it up; her father told her never to speak to anyone about it, and Mary could tell he was very serious. He said that if anyone knew, Mary might be taken away to live in an orphanage, where children have mean care takers, and share their beds with rats and other nasties. An orphanage is a cold and unfriendly place.

So Mary never told anyone, that every night after Claire was fast asleep, and Mummy was all tucked up in bed, she would be woken by her father, who would always touch her privates, and make her touch his. Sometimes, he would sink his private part deep inside of hers. She never liked any of it, because she was only little, and her Daddy was very big, and sometimes it hurt her. Some of what Daddy did felt really good, but somehow Mary knew that it was wrong, and she felt guilty for feeling good. And this had been going on for so long that these days she found it hard to protest her father’s actions to him. Mary didn’t know what to do. One thing she did know is that every night she lay, curled up in a little ball, shaking, afraid of what was to come.

One night, her father was very angry. He was yelling at mother, and the two children. Mother was screaming, and threw a book at father! She stormed into her room and slammed the door. The father yelled at the two girls, and told them to go to bed. Then he bent down and whispered into Mary’s ear, "you and me, tonight!" Mary knew what her fathers intentions were, and she was afraid, especially of what it might be like after he had been so angry that night. So in the bedroom, she persuaded her sister to sleep on the bottom bunk. After some effort, Claire agreed to sleep on the bottom. That night, Mary lay awake. She felt guilty for what she had done. And sure enough, some time later, in crept the girls’ father. Mary listened, as Claire was woken and sexually abused. As Mary had suspected, the father went all out that night, and did every disgusting act imaginable. But Mary lay weeping.

The following morning, Claire told her mother what had happened, and Claire’s mother called the police. Bruises on Claire’s thighs served as evidence, and the father was arrested and taken to jail. Claire didn’t know that Mary had known what was going to happen. Mary was grateful that her father had been taken away, and that she would never have to suffer his abuse again. But she never forgave herself for what she had done to her sister.