Highly Commended Story - Overcoming Struggles

“Overcoming Struggles” by Mahala Wellington, Poinciana Christian Preparatory School, USA, is the Highly Commended story in the junior category of the second biannual Short Story Contest 2018.

Overcoming Struggles

My first name is Overcome and my last name is Struggle. My mother named me this because she wanted to remind herself every morning why she is grateful. I, Overcome Struggle, represent a war won, a love that was found, and future barriers to break. I am my mother’s motivation, peace, harmony, and greatest accomplishment. I, Overcome Struggle, motivated her to get her Master’s Degree, let go of the past, and accomplish what she thought was out of her reach. Each child represents importance to his/her parents. We are the true leaders of our household because we remind our parents to continue living. We represent the good that may have come from the bad. We represent unconditional love and unlimited strength within. My mother’s full name is Broken Pieces.

As a child, Broken Pieces did not represent love to her parents. Broken Pieces represented hurt, pain, struggle, and lust. She never knew what love was as a child. Her weekly routine consisted of beatings, starvation, and tears. As a child, Broken Pieces never celebrated holidays because her parents refused to spend money on her. Once, she got hit by a drunk driver and instead of taking her to the hospital, her mother punished her. Her mother hid her under a friend’s bed for two days because the cops were looking for the little girl who got hit by the drunk driver (from witnesses' statements).

When Broken Pieces was 7 years old, she was invited to a party. At the party, a little boy stole her candies from the pinata. Broken Pieces started crying and told her step-father what had occurred. Her step-father took her into a room and beat her with a belt. She was punished because she was crying over candy. He started hitting her with the metal part of the belt because with every strike he wanted to see her scream in pain. Broken Pieces was bleeding in her nose and mouth. The metal part of the belt cuts her chest. The belt color changed from black to red from the blood. She did not understand why the other adults didn’t intervene. After the beating, Broken Pieces had to be carried to the bathroom. Some parents were trying to clean up the blood from the room, while other parents tried to stop the bleeding. One of the parents gave her orange juice, but she could not drink it because blood poured into the cup. What bothered her the most was being touched by her step-father. Every Morning her step-father would call her into his room while her mother was working. He would make her lie down and remove her clothes. She would pretend to be asleep so that he would not call her into his room. Her mother just turned the other cheek and ignored it. The beating and sexual abuse lasted until she was 14 years old. She ended up running away.

Broken Pieces met a boy named Defeat Struggle. He taught her how to mend her broken heart. A few years later, Broken Pieces found out she was pregnant. The baby inside her motivated her to seek counseling. She started seeking therapy. Overcome Struggle came into this world on December 14, 2006. She looked at her child and saw love. She decided not to be a victim, but to become a survivor. She wanted to be a role model to her daughter. Her daughter gave her a reason to not only live but to succeed. Broken Pieces went to college and got her Master’s degree. She started working and moved into her own place with Defeat Struggle. She became a mentor to children and adolescents who went through abuse. She wanted to impact others in a positive way. Overcome Struggle represented hope to Broken Pieces’ present and future..

My mother was broken into many pieces because of her past abuse. Every day, she tells me how I gave her a reason to live. My story is to inspire others. I have a great childhood because my mother makes sure that I never go through what she went. She did not let her past defeat her. My mother does not represent a woman who is broken in many pieces. She represents strength. I am her motivation, but she is a true inspiration. My mother’s story makes me appreciate her more. She loved me enough to let go of the hurt and pain from the past. She knew she had to look forward and not go backwards. She defeated her demons from her past. Now our future looks bright because all I know is love and happiness. I will pass my love and happiness to my children. Our future generation will not feel what my mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother felt growing up. My mother broke the cycle.