A Girl Called Lucy

Prologue

Fire billowed all around as a little girl held tightly in her hand a stuffed bear that was torn and burnt. She stared at the fire as it consumed her house, the fire's light dancing in her green-blue eyes. Her face was black from the ash and her rags had mud clotted on them, the stench of neglect coming off of her. A single tear rolled down the little girls face as she watched the house collapse, the screams of other people surrounding her echoing through the night and a familiar scream that sounded when the house collapsed. She didn't understand what was going on. Her eyes slowly trailed to the side as she watched other children being dragged away, their mother's falling to their knees and wailing loudly. She looked down at her mother, who lay motionlessly on the ground, her eyes wide open as a gunshot wound pierced her forehead. The little girl poked her mother's shoulder as another house collapsed, sending up sparks and more smoke. She poked her mother, more forcibly this time, but still no response came from her. Confused, the girl began to cry, lost in her own despair. Voices sounded behind her and she looked over her shoulder as two men walked up to her, their eyes bearing down at her.

"She's a baby," the man said as he cocked his head. He grabbed the little girls arm and hauled her up. She yelped in pain and dropped her bear, which landed next to her deceased mother. "She's about a year old I believe."

"Take her then," the other man said. "People like young girls now-a-days. We'll make a profit." The man threw the little girl over his shoulder, ignoring her screams as her tiny hands outstretched towards her mother and the stuff bear that lay beside her. The girl was set in a cage in the back of the pickup and her eyes watched as the truck drove away, leaving the billowing fire behind.

She was unloaded into another cage on a plantation. She was tossed into the cage along with several of the other children, who were older than she was. Her baby hands gripped the chain-linked fence as the door closed and she stared out at the dirt that was billowing in the wind. She crawled underneath the bench located in the back of the cage and pulled her knees up to her chest. She didn't like these men; they were frightening. Their loud voices caused her to jump and their very movements scared her. She put her hands to her ears and squeezed tightly as she hoped to drain out every scream, every shout and every wail that was echoing around her. The sun eventually set, and the little girl was left in complete darkness. Not even a lamp lit the cage or the world beyond the cage.

Scraping her knees as she crawled, she grabbed the fence again and looked up at the sky, watching the clouds uncover the full moon. Its rays shined into the cage and the little girl looked to the side, seeing her fellow prison mates sleeping in the dirt that lined the bottom of their cage. She eyed the grass that was growing on the other side of the fence and she reached for it, the chained fences scratching her soft skin as she did so. She plucked a handful and brought her hand back through the fence and stared down at it. The clouds rolled back over the moon, concealing the only source of light she had. The little girl placed the small amount of grass on the ground and gently put her head down on it, her grimy hair falling over her eyes. Shaking from fear, the little girl closed her eyes, following the example of her peers.

She opened her eyes to see the sun beginning to rise and she sat up, her eyes teary from yesterday. She looked outside to see the men again, whipping someone on the back. The pained screams from the individual penetrated her ears and she quickly covered them again, wishing for the noise to go away. She quickly crawled back underneath the bench and placed her hands back over her ears. All she wanted was her mother. All she wanted was be away from here, for someone to make the noise stop. However, that blood-curling scream would never fade for a few more years and it penetrated deep into her very soul. Never would she forget the horrors she saw, the people who were murdered, the houses that were ablaze, and the very man who betrayed her existence.