What Keeps You Awake at Night?

Recently, I was asked this question:

What keeps you awake at night?

I would respond to that by saying, do you really want to know what keeps me awake at night? I will tell you, truthfully, and yet the truth is ever so painful. In my place of pain, in her place of pain, I will tell you.

I lie awake at night because I hear her cries. I see him approach her shanty. I watch as he walks inside. I hear as he grunts hello. I feel, as her entire body begins to tighten up. I know the helplessness as she lays back, unable to bear his weight. I see the terror as her innocent eyes double in size. I smell his slimy breathe as his steady inhale and exhale cause the hairs on her arms to rise in alarm and the spread of chills down her spine. I hear her cries of agony and helplessness. Again and again and again. Then silence.

I watch him rise up. I hear as he hisses goodbye. I feel, as her entire body begins to crumble. I know the numbness as she attempts to sit up, unable to carry the weight of her life. I see the guilt in her shameful eyes as she struggles to look anywhere above the ground. I smell the stench of death hovering in the air which lingers in her tiny room. I hear her weeping in torment and hopelessness. Again and again and again. Then silence.

Night after night, I hear her cries.

I lie awake at night because she NEVER leaves my mind.

SHE is what keeps me awake at night.