The Truth Untold

Heartbroken!

"Chiara, come over here! What happened to your face?" Her teacher asked.
With eyes downcast, Chiara approached the desk.
Miss Ronin gently touched Chiara's bruised and swollen cheeks.

The pools of water which gathered in Chiara's eyes, just from listening to the kindness in her teacher's voice, cascaded down her cheeks.
She continued looking at the floor, which seemed to be a carpet of bottomless water, through her tears.

"Talk to me Chiara." Miss pleaded.
Chiara was scared. She was not hearing her teacher, but, the words and threats of her stepdad, kept echoing in her head.

Huge brown eyes studied Chiara.
"Chiara, what is bothering you? I want to help you, but, I can only do so, if you talk to me!" Miss Ronin continued to plead for a response.
"They hate me!" Chiara managed to say with a stifled sob.

"Who hates you? What is going on?"
"It's bad Miss."
Chiara could not hold back the tears anymore. She began to sob loudly.
As she was about to tell her teacher everything, she heard the fateful words.
" I think we should call in your parents."

Chiara's neck jerked up!
She sprang to her feet, let out a shriek and darted out of the classroom.
"Chiara, Chiara, come back!" her teacher called.
Chiara never looked back.
She ran and ran.
Through the school gates, down the track, to the river's bank, sliding down the muddy bank, sloshing in the water
up the other side and past the old saw mill.

On and on she ran, her slipoers slapping at her soles. Perspiration drenched her back! Chiara did not feel anything.
She knew that if her parents were called into the school, her punishment would have been really bad.

After running for a while, Chiara saw a Savannah. Seeing two benches under a huge immortelle tree, she walked to one and sat.  The place was deserted.
Looking around, Chiara saw butterflies of various colours,  birds were chirping.
Looking at a mango tree nearby, she saw a nest with two baby birds.
"How happy they look?" she thought.

Sighing, she took  her meal from her pocket.
Seeing a stone, she quickly took it and began pounding away at the dried almonds to get at the nut inside.
Hunger gnawed at her.
Every pound competing with her heart beat.
Taking a book from her bag, Chiara made up her mind to stay there for a few hours, but her morning's dilemma soon overtook her desire to read.
Chiara fell asleep, on the bench.