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    A Breath Away: A Survivor's Story
    A Breath Away: A Survivor's Story
    A Breath Away: A Survivor's Story
    Ebook65 pages57 minutes

    A Breath Away: A Survivor's Story

    By Pamila Daniel

    ()

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    About this ebook

    WARNING – THIS STORY IS ABOUT THE SURVIVOR OF A SCHOOL SHOOTING. IT ALSO TALKS ABOUT EMOTIONAL ABUSE. IF YOU ARE A SURVIVOR OF EITHER THIS STORY MAY TRIGGER SOME ROUGH FEELINGS.

     

    Sixteen year old Zuleika Hart is just barely functioning after surviving a mass shooting at her school. To add to her troubles, she begins to realize that her stepfather is emotionally abusing her mother and her little sister.

    She can't bear the idea of returning to the scene of the crime (the school) but when she is forced to, she rebels, causing friction in her already tumultuous home life. 

    As Zuleika searches for a better, safer way to educate herself she discovers a strength she thought was long gone, and inspires her mother to look for strengths of her own.

    A BREATH AWAY has NO CHAPTERS. It is a freeform story.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherStudio Dreamland
    Release dateDec 11, 2024
    ISBN9798230038696
    A Breath Away: A Survivor's Story

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      Book preview

      A Breath Away - Pamila Daniel

      Table of Contents

      A BREATH AWAY | A Survivor’s Story | Pamila Daniel

      A Breath Away

      A BREATH AWAY

      A Survivor’s Story

      Pamila Daniel

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

      A Breath Away

      A Survivor’s Story

      Pamila Daniel

      Copyright 2024

      Image by Piyapong Saydaung from Pixabay

      All Rights Reserved.

      For the victims and the survivors – I think of you often. Much love to you all.

      WARNING – THIS STORY IS ABOUT THE SURVIVOR OF A SCHOOL SHOOTING. IT ALSO TALKS ABOUT EMOTIONAL ABUSE. IF YOU ARE A SURVIVOR OF EITHER THIS STORY MAY TRIGGER SOME ROUGH FEELINGS.

      A Breath Away: A Survivor’s Story

      (There are NO CHAPTERS in this book – it is a freeform STORY.)

      A Breath Away: A Survivor’s Story

      SO ... HOW AM I?

      I’m so broken now the daylight goes right through me.

      I’m frightened of every unfamiliar sound, wondering if a strange click is a gun being loaded, scared that a stranger’s footstep might mean it’s all going to start again.

      I’M NOT ME ANYMORE.

      If a car backfires I run and hide under my bed. If a siren goes off down the street I cower in the corner until it disappears.

      The worst thing that ever happened to me – the shooting – has turned me into a ball of restless, unrelenting fear.

      HOW CAN ANYONE SURVIVE THIS?

      Today is my last free day ... school starts tomorrow. They expect me to return to the scene of the crime and pretend that mopping the blood off of the floors makes it all safe and clean again.

      BUT I CAN’T GO BACK NOW.

      I know, I promised them I would when they let me leave before the school year ended last year, but I just can’t see myself sitting in a classroom again. The memories are still too fresh, the losses too heavy.

      I WAS A BREATH AWAY FROM DYING.

      Inches from the gun that stole my friends from me. They can never go back. Why should I?

      I feel like I’m living THE LIFE THAT SHOULD NOT BE.

      Why was I spared? I’m not special. I’ll never use this experience to become a role model. Hell, I’m just barely getting through. Me, Zuleika Rose Hart, I’m a nothing, really. Why am I still here?

      I live with Leo Marshall, or The Evil Stepfather as I call him and my mother Melanie Hart Marshall. I have a little sister, Clary Noel. My life has never been what you’d call normal but it was tolerable when my dad was here. Then it fell to pieces after the Evil Stepfather came skulking around. But I could handle his shit, you know? I found ways to cope.

      I’ve been exploring the ‘net for alternatives to public school. Private school is out. They get shooters, too. Plus, they’re too expensive and are usually run by fake religious types with secret perversions.

      Homeschooling looks interesting, if I follow the self-led learning path and avoid the school-at-home-though-really-is-just-church-at-home routine that I’ve seen on a lot of reality shows.

      My mom just informed me that she and the creep won’t let me homeschool, their unimaginative minds can’t fathom the idea of me teaching myself what I want to learn.

      I’m weary of trying to figure out what my mother thinks I should be doing with my life and sick of having to avoid my stepfather’s gait in the hall so there won’t be yet another argument about my ingratitude or selfishness or whatever other stupid word he comes up with for my lingering devastation.

      They thought I’d be fine once the doctor put me on meds but the damned things made me cry more than I was before, and they gave me a cringe worthy aversion to bath water – I didn’t wash my hair or take a shower for four weeks! Eww!

      I finally weaned myself very slowly off of those pills without telling anyone. Yeah, it wasn’t the best idea but I couldn’t handle them and I didn’t want to have to keep going back to the doctor (a real stiff jerk who kept treating me like it was my fault I couldn’t be happy again). My mom thinks I’m still on the pills. She’ll learn different if she ever checks our insurance statements.

      I had a rough conversation with the grown ups this morning. Mom says I have no choice but to attend school this year if I want to graduate. Evil Stepfather demands that I go. Can’t have me sulking (his word) around the

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