When most people think of teenage girls they think of cheerleaders, having sleepovers, and doing their homework. But not every teenage girl is like that. For Shannon, life was a never ending struggle of fear, loneliness, and despair.
Shannon was a 17 year old girl who had never experienced the joys of life that most her age took for granted. She was raised by a single father who, to put it bluntly, had a problem with alcohol. As her father's drinking increased so did his violent behavior towards Shannon. He would come home drunk every night and berate her for every mistake she made. He felt like it was his right to do whatever he wanted because he was her father. In the midst of the emotional trauma that Shannon was exposed to, she had to take care of herself because her father was incapable of doing so.
The only escape she had from the neglect and abuse that she faced everyday was death; it was her only way out. She started planning her death, looking for ways to make it happen. The only thing that kept her from committing suicide was her reluctance to leave her little brother who was only five years old. She refused to let him face the same kind of upbringing she had, which pushed her away from ending her life.
Shannon worked constantly to make ends meet and her father couldn’t even be bothered to ask after her. He just took what she had and left her with nothing. It became too much for her to handle and she started to feel like there was no escape from the cycle of abuse and neglect.
With her mental state rapidly deteriorating, Shannon would spend her late nights in her room counting down the seconds until the sun came up. She was losing hope that anything could ever change and that’s all she had left.
Time went on and one day Shannon finally had enough. In her desperation she decided that death was her only option, so she started to plan it out. She wrote a goodbye letter to her brother, her father, and every person who made her life difficult. At last, she had an escape from this never-ending struggle.
Shannon was ready. She took one last look at the stars before heading to the bridge of the river near her house. When she arrived, Shannon was relieved to finally have peace. With tears streaming down her face, she stepped off the bridge.
As her body hit the ice cold water, Shannon felt a sense of peace she had never experienced before. She knew that her struggle was finally over and she was happy to finally be free.
