Chapter 16

Trauma

When I was nine years old...

I can't remember everything ever since I woke up beside a tree, save my name only and my pet owl, Acro. I sought help to feed my hungry stomach in every house I saw in the woods. But I did knock on the door of greedy men. They fed me and later sold me as a slave. They tied my hands with a rope attached to a donkey and dragged me along it. For several hours, I suffered fatigue from that seemingly endless march across the hot places. Beseeching for rest was futile.

It only got colder when we arrived in a city where I became a product for merchandise. Yet I wasn't the sole slave. There were many people who looked like my skin was being sold as a slave. Fat and a lady of ornament bought me. Strangers made me afraid until in the latter, I became competitive.

If I was born a slave, then I will be the greatest slave of all! There were other slaves in one master where I belong. The tasks were often too much for me. I struggle to be