For the children

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Sofia was the only child. Her mom worked all the time while
her dad was at home. Sofia was always on the beach collecting shells to sell at
the local market. They did not have a lot of money so Sophia would
often miss school to help out her mom with paying the bills. Sophia dreamed
of being a youth councilor. She wanted to be a positive person in a troubled
child's life.

When Sophia got home she saw her mom's bike by their old house.
Her mom got off early! Sophia was so excited. Her mom never came
home from work this early. As she got closer to the house she could
hear yelling coming from the living room. Great, back to reality. Sophia
never believed in her dream of being a councilor. To do this she had to
be in school, which she almost never was because she had to pick shells.

Her dad had been drinking again. Sophia's mother was yelling at him for taking money
from the savings jar they used to pay bills. They never had electricity and now they
would go another month without heat. As Sophia ran to her room she could hear her
dad hitting her mom again.

Later that evening Sophia's mother called her for dinner. The usual, coconut
soup. It was the only thing Sophia could get for free. She would climb up
the trees and get coconuts for her mother to cook with. They had very little
to eat.Sophia and her mother sat by the fireplace and sipped on their soup quietly
while they listened to Sophia's dad's continued cursing to her mom and Sophia
for being a burden to him.

Sophia loved her bedroom. She had little boxes and jars that she would put all of her paper
candy creations in. Sophia loved candy. Her mom came in to tuck her in and sing her to
sleep. Sophia's mom loved to sing. If only her dream would come true Sophia thought. It
was hard for a woman, especially a woman of color to make a career in music. Sophia
longed for a better life for her and her mom. Her mom would always leave Sophia with a
smile as she fell asleep.

Sometimes while Sophia was sleeping her dad would come in and
whisper in her ear that he did not love her and that she was nothing.
He said she would never be a youth councilor. Sophia pretended to sleep.
Her dad had always teased her about being black. He said that she would
not get far in life with black skin. She tried to push these hurtful words
out of her head because she knew he was drunk and would remember
nothing the next day.Sophia resented her dad for treating her and her
mom so bad.

Every morning Sophia and her mother would get up very early so that
Sophia could go find the best shells and her mom could go to work.
This morning while Sophia was walking some of her classmates ran
by on their way to ballet. Sophia started crying. She would love to take
ballet. Instead she had to pick shells to sell for a couple dollars just
to help her mom put food on the table.

Sophia had a little place in the valley that she liked to
visit when she got to overwhelmed. She felt like an
outsider because all the other kids seemed to have
perfect lives. As she thought about her life she came
to the realization that it was all her fathers fault. He
always drank and never helped to support Sophia
and her mom.

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