You’ve grown up.

Today it’s finally your birthday and you’re glad to finally not be called a kid by your parents, today you’ll ride your bike to school and your classmates will sing happy birthday to you, and after that, you will eat loads of cake and ice cream while opening gifts.

Your parents are happy and you are allowed to have something that it’s not a fruit for breakfast, and as you wave goodbye to your parents you can’t help but think about what kind of stories you’ll tell your best friends as soon as you see them, and in your excitement, you don’t notice the car that starts to follow you.

You ride through the park and even though it’s a cold day, nothing seems to make you happier and you start to sing loudly with a big smile, not noticing the car that’s parked outside the park where you are heading to. But why would you? You’re happily looking forward to getting to school.

Suddenly, a man grabs you with force and you fall from your bike, hurting your knees. You start to cry and shout out for help, but the man is quick to shut you up and blindfolds you. You feel how your feet leave the ground and suddenly, you are thrown over what feels to be legs, and hands begin to touch you. You hear how the dress your grandmother spent hours making for you is ripped, the hair clip you made with your grandfather ripped from your hair and you just want everything to stop, but it never does and you lose conscience.

When you wake up, everything hurts, you can’t move. Your body is all wet with tears and you don’t want to think about what more. You want your mom and dad to be here, to make the pain go away, but no matter how loud you cry out for them, they don’t come to help you. Suddenly, the same man as before grabs your head and holds you, to be very still while he whispers in your ear.

“You’re a big girl now, your parents won’t help you”

And you repeat to yourself his phrase over and over even when he’s gone.

You’ve grown up.