When I was nine years old, I was raped by my uncle. Now you're thinking, 'What kind of sick, twisted story is this?' You can do a total of two things right now. 1)Click another article and wash this paragraph from your brain forever, or 2)Keep reading. I really don't care which you choose. Just know that this is my story. Mine, and only mine. And it's true. You can gossip and you can tease. You can stare me down with disgusted eyes and drown in awkward silence. But no matter how many words you change, I will always remember that day. That day my life, as cliche as it sounds, changed forever.

It was gloomy that day. That morning, I overslept, skipped breakfast, and missed the bus. Really, I should've taken the cue that this day wasn't going to be going my way. But I was stubborn. I ignored the voices that whispered in my head, and I walked all the way back to my house and woke my mother to drive me to school.

Not only was I late, I recieved my first tardy of the year. My teacher was a weird little woman with gray hair and Harry Potter specs. She reminded me of a little elf queen that you might see in the Choronicals of Narnia or something. School dragged on - like any other day, even though it didn't exactly begin like one.

That evening, it was my older brother, Alex's birthday. He was turning 16 and I couldn't be more overjoyed. I loved my brother - and I still do. I remember in particular, it was a rather humid night. Although it just turned into Autumn, the wet rain that just fell made the air stick and hot. I wore my favorite dress that day. Now, looking back, maybe if I hadn't worn that dress, maybe, just maybe, things would've been different. But I did. Now what?

We had just finished eating and I recieved a call from my friend Addie asking whether or not I wanted to spend the night the following night, so I ran upstaires to answer it. And that was when IT happened. When I got up to my room, I didn't notice him from behind me. This stuck me as pretty odd, but I didn't even get to finish my thoughts because then he locked the door behind him and... well, need I say more?

I remember wanting to scream for help, but it was as if the world around me was moving in slow motion. My voice was dry and I couldn't steak. It was as if someone pressed the mute button in my brain.

Today, I am 17. Eight years have passed since that day. Although now I have let go of my past, and we are no longer close to our uncle, I now know one thing that I didn't know before. Life isn't all about rainbows and unicorns. Once you get pass the walls of school, life becomes harsh. It's not perfect. It's what you make it out to be. Sometimes, you just have to let go of your past, and embrace the present.