Only Daughter

by Sarah A. Denzil

The primary school remarked on how independent she was – even went as far as to say she was a natural-born leader, bossing the other four-year-olds around in the playground. But when Grace hit her teenage years, I noticed an insecurity that hadn’t been there before. She was still bouncy and sweet at home, but out in public, she’d changed.

There will be all eyes on me today – examining what I wear, how I act, counting the tears that fall down my cheeks. I will be judged as a mother, as a woman and as a person, and I will be found wanting.

She’s a teen, not yet grown, still soft clay to be moulded – and Angela has moulded her into a dark and destructive creature.