Endless darkness envelops the young girls classroom

She sobs silently awaiting her nightly lesson

His shadow looms with her in his toxic embrace

Her heart stops

So does time and space

Suspended and vulnerable- she is schooled

He forces down her cries of wrong answers with manipulative lips

And whispers his answers in her young ears

As if she can understand him

He doesn't care as his hands begin to creep

She tenses 

Knowing whats to come

A routine pop quiz  

Her instincts scream at her to simply skip

It wasn't mandatory, she could walk away

She doesn't

She knows what must be done

His hands still creep

A whimper breaks from its cage

So does a glimpse of his rage

A pain in her side

Reminds her not to say a peep 

Or pass the notes summarizing his lessons

His destination reached

As if bleached

Her color slowly fades

Her essence 

Once a plethora of iridescent lights

Now chained to his chalk stained hands

Are as black as an eclipsed sun

Knowing nothing else but his lessons 

She obediently lays

She tries to clear her mind

Focus on her answers

Tries to leave whats left of herself behind

Distractions weren't acceptable

Wanting simply nothing more

Then for her life to be like it was before

Before pop quizes

And true or false test

Before projects displaying your talents

The talents teacher spent weekends making sure she knew like the back of her small hands

 But teacher needs her focused

Though her cries are no longer caged

They go unnoticed

Why would teacher care to notice?

He was teaching!

She trembles with the pain

All the hatred and disdain

Emotions cloud her head

The questions began to run together

Adding to her dread of another lessons end

She prays that soon it will be over

But not everthing has been covered

And teacher is always sure to be thorough

The young girl is panicked

Once again she can't keep up

She is lost 

As a result, her work suffers

While teacher grades her work

His rage is unleashed

All her answers are still wrong!

Class was over

But detention was waiting