Fragile

My back lammed ino the edge of our kitchen table. Pain erupted in my shoulders--sharp jolts shooting through the muscles like hot electricity. Reeling from the impact, I crumpled to the floor, my breathing coming heavily from my lips as his enraged voice taunted me. His voice faded into distant background noise, rocking my skull with its harshness, until it became hardly noticeable.

Mom screamed into the air, and her strident cries pierced through the fog, making my heart sink in my chest.

As I shivered on the floor, tears coursed down my cheeks like hot fames. My back emanated a physical pain unlike any other I had experienced, caused by the collision with hard wood. I had no motivation to stand. No motivation to rise and then be put into my place once more.

"Stop it, Henry!" my mother screeched, her long fingernails clawing at Dad's arm as he advanced toward me, carrying the scent of alcohol and sweat with him. A wild fervor spurred in his gaze at the sight of her, as she clung to him and worked to restrain him.