Big Book '98VIOLATED
by Kelly Morrice
I am surrounded, surrounded by emptiness. Cold and alone, they neglect me. I am voluptuous, my large proportions hold the capacity to occupy so many more people, but the people do not come. I feel isolated, deserted and empty. After the bell rings, the sounds of hurried footsteps soon becomes distant, all that remains is an occasional whisper or a student making their way somewhere else.
I am ashamed, for I am unloved. They do not respect, nor do they appreciate me. My appearance is unkempt and dirty, I have lost hope. They do not care about me. They just continue to walk down my hallways, sit in my cold rooms and shiver, but they do not care about me. I am unnoticed, ignored. The students torment me with their disrespect. Constant fear, waiting for my next window to be broken, waiting to feel the glass shatter, like bones being crushed.
My pale complexion has been masked with the pointless graffiti embedded on me by the students. The students leave their mark on my pale face, scrawling trivial and crude phrases over my freshly painted walls. Every coat of pastel green paint disguises the words that have been violently scrawled upon me.
They have destroyed me with their thoughtless vandalism and disrespect. My walls have been covered in graffiti, windows broken and yard littered. Now I will never be beautiful, just ugly, plain and dull.
There is no haven of refuge within me, every part of me has been violated. The log cabin, engulfed in smoke, littered with cigarette butts. Masses of students crowd around me, hiding from the teachers, inhaling and exhaling on their cigarettes, flicking them aside, terrifying me, for I fear I will go up in flames.
It is a vicious game. The students destroy me, someone eventually restores me, only to have the students destroy me again. I cannot win this game, the students have control. They will continue to violate and abuse me, I shall remain unappreciated, ignored. My peace and contentment have been stolen.