When Fate Faltered
When I was nine, I was caught in the blast while trying to save Joel Yorks, and the loud wave took away my hearing. Since then, I have had to wear hearing aids.
Joel felt guilty.
He insisted on having my hand in marriage. With his eyes welling up in tears, he swore, “Helen, I’ll take care of you for the rest of your life.”
However, when I turned eighteen…
Everything changed because he wanted to please the prettiest girl in the school.
He ripped off my hearing aid in front of her and our classmates and said in disdain, “I’ve had enough of you being a burden. I really wish you hadn’t survived that day when you were nine. It would have been better if you were dead.”
I clutched my audiology report and stayed silent.
When I got home, I quietly revised my college applications and formally broke the engagement along with my parents.
Joel and I would go our separate ways after that.
We would not need to meet again.