A sampling of my short story written in 2009. Of course, this is an autobiographical piece so names and locations were change to keep the peace.

DURING MY LAST FEW YEARS OF HIGH SCHOOL, Sara drifted in and out of a psychotic state. She would get well enough to have a job; then something would trigger sending her back to the hospital. The last few times she recovered, she started staying in the city with an aunt. She worked at a store as a shop help and seemed to regain a normal life. During the weekends and holidays, she returned to the village to see her family, and that’s when we would meet up. We spent some time together catching up on gossip and girl talk. I noticed that she was returning to normal and started enjoying life again, she would tell me about the guy she liked and their quest to find quiet places to be together. She possessed a particular weakness for the opposite sex that seemed a bit unnatural for her age. Once again she started seeing a guy who was much older, and just like Conner, he encouraged her to do things compromised her safety and self-worth.

The man she spoke  of ived in the city. He took her out, drove her around, and paid for her meals, but just like with Conner she fell for the pressures of an older man and was caught in a similar situation. This time the guy drove her out to the seaport , where they proceeded to have sex in an empty ship loading area. It became a habit for them to meet at the seaport, but it didn’t last long. Someone caught both of them and held them at knifepoint on their last meetup. The person who found them insisted that she had sex with him, or he would cut them and tell her boyfriend’s wife what he was up to. She never told me how she got out of this situation because I stopped her from revealing more than I needed to know. I often wondered if she was telling me the truth, so I took everything she said in stride and tried not to overreact.

A YEAR AFTER HER PSYCHOTIC BREAKDOWN and return to sanity, she was back in the village again. Once again she was sick and had to endured weeks at the mental ward. I didn’t know what the mental ward was like, but I assumed it was an awful place because every time she returned, she was in bad shape. After her second confinement, her father limited her interaction with others during her heighten state of madness. This time her madness manifested in loud screams and public nudity. On few occasions, she would escape her home and wonder around the neighborhood naked. When she did this none of the villagers dared make direct contact with her. It became a common event in the village as men, women, and children avoided her like the plague whenever she was having an episode. The only favor they offered the family was to note her location and let her relatives and friends know where to collect her.

To Be Continued….