Everyday I'd wake with the biggest of smiles, ready to greet my family. I’d embrace them with open arms and tell  them how much I loved them. My mother would be cooking breakfast, my father would be reading the paper and my sister Jane would be endlessly checking her make-up in a hand-held mirror. I’d run to each one of them and give them hugs. My mother would kiss my forehead, Jane would squeeze me tight and father would tussle my hair. I felt as though we were the perfect family but it was just an illusion. Everything suddenly changed one night. My father had found out that my mother was having an affair with another man. He’d begun to drink. They argued endlessly and just like that he’d hit her. One hit became two and three, until he was wailing and swinging his bottle at her. Next thing I knew...mother was dead. Just like that he had taken her from us. As I sit and stare at her lifeless body in a pool of her own blood, my body becomes stiff and I can’t move. He’d finally noticed my presence and tried to reassure me that everything was fine. He was drunk, tipsy and coming right at me, yet I stood very still. He stepped over mother and made his way over to me. I gasped in fear as he placed his blood covered hand on my shoulder. Tears stung my eyes.

 “It’s okay, Jamie.” he said as he embraced me. “Everything is okay.” from the steps I could hear Jane's stifled sobs. She knew what happened but stayed quite out of fear. I decided to do the same.