crossing the Golden Line

Moya Thomas

Analissa Whyte was your ordinary, light skinned, beautiful, articulate, country sixteen year old. One thing that made her pop was her beautiful voice but being in a little isolated village with a ill-tempered dad her chances of fame was very small. Her father hated when she sang but everytime he was off to work during the day she would have a secret book she wrote her songs in. She sang all day, even at her mother's grave. Her mother love her singing and that was the only reason she never gave up on her dream. Even when every person in her village said she wouldn't make it ."It's hard out there Ana, life isn't as it seem", she remember her aunt saying to her. She never had much friend, but she had her best friend Marie and she was all she needed to survive high school. " Are you gonna enter the school play Ana" her bestfriend asked. Ana knew her father would say no, she longed to be like every other child in the village. She couldn't take to anyone especially boys! And that was sucked for her because she was inlove with Chris Armani. She liked him ever since they were six years old and she never had the courage to approach him. She never really tried to approach him, she felt some what guilty because her best friend dated him. She was really upset with her for that, Marie knew how much she liked Chris. "Our friendship means more to me" Ana kept reminding herself, trying not to feel stifled with anger. Every evening Ana had to run home to cook for her dad, if she didn't reach home early enough and finish before he came he would brutally beat he
she would sneak out every night when he was intoxicated with alcohol and knocked out after playing her innocence. She went to a bar little outside their village and she would sing to the few people there. She never got paid for it but she enjoyed it. It was the only thing that made her happy for awhile. She had to go home back to her misery but she enjoyed the moment she had free of all her misery. She couldn't bare to be unhappy everyday of her life. She thought about running away, but she didn't know where to and she thought about killing her dad but who would take care of her. She thought about it,planned and saved for months and a bus was leaving to New York at 8 in the morning and she packed everything she owned, right after he father left for work. He didn't send her to school fortunately the day so she had one less thing to worry about. She hurriedly ran from her house not looking back straight to the main where the bus would be. She payed the driver and without even a goodbye to her friend she dreamt big and hope it would be a better place. On the bus going to New York she thought about all the things she would see, all the things she heard about New York "the Big Apple". She met a woman named Elise Graham on the bus , they sang a few songs on the journey and Ana fell asleep on the ladies shoulder forgetting what a mother was like. "Dear, dear, where are you going?" Elise asked. Ana didn't know where she was going but as long as it was somewhere she could be as far away from her father and close to her dreams. (to be continued)