She drifts from happiness to reality

Longing to stay forever in her dreams

For every morning when she awakes

The unending hell starts all over again

She tiptoes downstairs hoping may escape

But knowing all the while that pain is imminent

Here the monster comes, gnashing and clawing

First striking with words of hate and disdain

Then bashing, bruising and battering with its hands

She trembles and falls helplessly to the ground

Holding back tears and screams like she always does

It picks her up and throws her out the door

Not an ounce or remorse or a morsel of food

At school they just keep asking the question "Why?"

Why her skin is covered in varying shades of purple, yellow, and blue

Why she hides extra food in her backpack at lunch

Why she still keeps shrinking thinner and thinner

Why she never wears those shorts she used to love

She swallows the pain and keeps the secrets inside

Putting on a smile and saying "Oh, I'm fine."

But deep down within, she asks the question too

"Why can't I have someone who loves me?"

"Why is my life so completely worthless?"

"Why does the monster hurt me all the time?"

"Why do I deserve this pain, this hate, this unhappiness?"

She stumbles her way home, walking as slow as she possibly can

Knowing that when she opens the door, the cycle will resume

There it is, big and bad, liquor on it's breath

And here it comes, charging like a raging bull

The pain hits suddenly, all at once and overwhelmingly

And before she knows it, everything is black

When she comes to, she breathes a sigh of relief

It's truck is gone, so for a moment she is free

Free to go back to her dreams

Back to happiness, hope and a home

A home she has always wished for more than anything

A warm home, with love, joy and gentleness

But instead, she is trapped in her horrid reality

Full of hatred, deceit, and depravity

Hoping, always, that someone will help her

Someone will hear her, someone will heal her

Will anyone stand up? Will anyone rise?

Will anyone hear those crying voices in the night?