Tags

Daily Prompt: Only Sixteen

Tell us all about the person you were when you were sixteen.

At sixteen I felt old, liked I had lived a thousand lives already.  I was the oldest of 6 children with the youngest 5 years old.  I was the little mother, looking after my siblings and I took life seriously.  I suffered from low esteem, puberty seemed to have missed me and I so wanted to be like the other girls my age.

I had a chance to escape my life, a life that had dark undertones, secrets that were never spoken of, my aunt had me stay with her for 2 weeks, it was wonderful, no shadow hanging over me, a chance to be young and happy, those two weeks were a special time in my life, I was offered a life I never could of imagined and yet I returned to my family knowing that nothing had really changed at home except the way I felt. I had a dream that was the cause of my return, it was a dream of love, love for my brother and sisters, a dream that showed me that I would protect them with everything I had in me.  I couldn’t let them down.

How would I sum up being sixteen?  The decision to return home showed me I had some control over my life, that family was important to me and that we could get through anything so long as we had each other.