Escape

Writing Challenge: Sept 21, 2017

Prompt: Write about a time you saw hope in what seemed to be a hopeless situation.

In the worst of times I thought we would never escape him. Twice before my mother had filed for divorce, and twice it never went through. I had begun to think we would be stuck with him forever- chained down by poverty, drugs, alcohol, and violence.

When he went to prison again, this time for two years, I rejoiced. We had already hit rock bottom. We lived, illegally, in a one-bedroom apartment. 10 of us, living on top of each other in a small space. There was no privacy. There was no money. There was little hope.

When he went away everything changed. Mom got a new job. It paid little and the hours were long, but it was enough to raise our heads again. We got a new place, now 6 of us in 3 bedrooms- an un-paralleled improvement. Most importantly, He was gone, and with him the anxiety, the fear, the drugs, and the violence went as well. For the first time in years I began to hope that there would be an end to our dark lives.

Without him in her life Mom gained courage. We left him for good. We left, going to the one place he wouldn’t follow us. Finally, on the third try, the divorce went through- finalized. We were free. As I looked at the snow-capped mountains, so different from the flat green coastal plain I came from, I smiled, fully happy for the first time in seven years.