The Little Girl

by Renata Aponchik; at age 16

There is a little girl I know.
She gets beat up every time her mother is mad.
Her mother's boyfriend touches her every time he feels like it.

Some people just don't listen to the things she's got to say.
Some people keep it all a secret.
These people are just like me.
Some people tell the girl to lie.
These people are like her mom.

She is so afraid of her mom.
That's why she does everything her mother tells her.

I know the feeling that she gets.
I have had it, too.
But I also know what's going to happen,
If she doesn't get the help she needs.
I want to die, so I don't have to watch her cry.
But I cannot die, because it will kill her even more inside.

It makes me want to say to everyone out there ...
If you know a kid that gets hurt,
Please help them, so they could live a happy life,
Before it's way too late.

I have been through all of this.
I know how life would be,
If they don't get the help they need.
I'm 16, and I have cut myself.
I have tried to kill myself so many times.
I don't remember how being happy feels.

I have to put on a smile,
So people don't know that I'm sad.
I'm in a foster home now, and I am so glad that people care.
They saved my life.

I'm going to try and save her life,
So she doesn't have to ever feel or do the things I do.
The little girl is only eight.
She is my little sister, and she's the only sister that I have ever had.

So if anyone of you out there knows the kid
That cries all night, because of all the things that people do,
Then please help the kid, so they don't have to go through
All of the things that hurt them even more inside
And makes them think everything that happened is their fault.
horizons, and to forge ahead toward each and all of their goals.
Amen

I now pronounce you to be a human being. Go forth and seek to be together in this union, further develop it, and experience life as one.