Saving Anna: Chapter 1

“The biggest obstacle standing between me and God has always been the fear of not being able to believe…”

She had been disillusioned about life for as long as she bothered to remember. What was there to hope for in this grey world? She had fallen into a pit she could not climb out of, a pit full of despair, so deep, so dark. Hope…what did she understand of this word? In a heart covered with wounds, there was no room for hope.

There was a screech, suddenly, from outside. Annabelle did not react; it happened all the time. Her mother had probably staggered in the front door of their miserable two-room apartment, and most likely drunk. Indifferently, she turned her attention back to the book she was reading. Her younger brother and sister probably had found a place to hide and wait out her mother’s spell. This was life, and Mama’s screaming was just an everyday thing; she had heard it for most of her 16 years.

Mama was banging on her door now. Anna buried her head further into the book. She knew it would stop in a few minutes, when Mama had wasted her entire vocabulary of profanities on the door. Sure enough, the banging and cursing ceased after a while. Anna opened the door to find Mama slumped against her door, reeking of cheap whiskey and vomit. The front of her faded dress was stained, and her gaunt face red. Those eye bags were more pronounced than ever.

A door creaked; Christophe and little Sophie were emerging from the bathroom. So that was where they had taken refuge. Anna dragged her mother into the bathroom and proceeded to strip the filthy dress of her thin, thin figure. 11-year-old Chrissy grabbed a towel, no more than a rag, and soaked it. He wiped Mama’s face while Anna cleaned Mama’s naked body. Sophie was too young to do anything; she was the result of Mama’s affair with one of those barmen 5 years back, some time after Papa had walked out of them. The barman had disappeared quickly, and rightly too, thought Anna.

After cleaning Mama up, Anna carried her to bed. Mama was so thin she weighed almost nothing. Well, it wasn’t much of a surprise, since her diet composed of nothing but alcohol. Anna and Chrissy tucked Mama into bed without ceremony, not really bothering to dress her, just pulling the cover up to her chin. It was nothing but routine; they thought nothing of it.