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Imogen
(© Matthew Forte)

Page 1

Three days ago Imogen celebrated her fourteenth birthday. Today will be her death-day. A death caused by her own hands. She's attempted suicide twice before and hopes the third time will be the charm. She is on her bed writing her suicide note.

Why would someone so young, blessed with an extraordinarily creative mind, a compassionate loving heart and has a father that loves her more than life itself want to die so much?

The sad irony is Imogen doesn't really want die. She wants to live. She wants a beautiful bright future. She wants to fall in love. She wants to have children someday. Mostly she wants to be able to make her beloved father proud and to have hope.

What she doesn't want is the life she has now. A life plagued by endless pain and suffering brought on by her peers and an uncaring system.

From pre K. to second grade she was often teased for being chubby. The summer before she hit third grade she had shed the extra weight by practically starving herself. The kids left her alone for a while. Then around fifth grade kids began teasing her about something else. Something she couldn't change. The little monsters began bullying her for being a lesbian.

Imogen has never declared being a lesbian to anyone; it is only in the last year that she come to terms with being gay. She's not comfortable with being a lesbian. It isn't so much the same sex attraction that bothers her but people's judgment and hatred of it. Another thing that makes her uneasy about being gay is being different from everyone around her.

Imogen always had an intense desire to fit in and no matter where she goes she's always been the odd one out. When you're in junior high the last thing you want is to be different. Being different in junior high can be rough. Being gay can be Hell. Even the perception of being gay is enough to get you screwed.

The kids at school pelted her with all kinds of offensive slurs like dyke, lesbo, gay bitch , and pussy-licker. It wasn't long before the harassment went from verbal to physical. One of the worst attacks Imogen suffered was getting jumped on a school bus by three girls. The assault left her unconscious and badly bruised. Imogen's attackers were expelled but not before her father confronted them and threatened to beat them to death. Imogen's father was arrested for threatening his daughter's attackers. Later on, he pleaded no contest to the charges and received probation.

Imogen was moved to a new school. She and her father hoped the transfer would solve her problems but nothing changed. The kids there were even crueler. They took bullying to another arena – cyberspace. Imogen's tormentors posted hateful and nasty remarks on her Facebook page. The little monsters hacked into her profile and defaced it with homophobic epithets and lesbian pornographic imagery. A mortified Imogen took down her profile but the cyber bullying didn't end. The tormentors posted their scathing remarks elsewhere. Her father intervened and took harsh measures to put an end to the web harassment. He called on a hacker buddy of his to deface and defame the profiles of her tormentors. The online bullying ceased not long after.

Unfortunately Imogen's father's attempts to end the bullying in the offline world didn't go so well. The powers that be at her school weren't as cooperative or compassionate as the last school. The bullying persisted at full speed.

Fed up with the situation, he allowed Imogen to have prolonged absences from school. After a couple of weeks, a city worker came knocking on his door complaining of Imogen's truancy. He warned him that if Imogen didn't return to school that he could be fined and serve possible jail time.

Imogen overheard the warning and became fearful for her father. She reluctantly decided to return to school. Jim pleaded with Imogen to hold off returning but she felt pressured to go back. Imogen's return was anything but welcoming. Once again, she was battling bullies.

By this point, Imogen became very suicidal. She ingested an entire bottle of painkillers and prayed that she would never wake up. A few hours later she woke up in a hospital bed, her terribly distraught father by her side. Her father made her promise she would never try to kill herself again. Imogen tried so hard to keep her promise. But recently something horrific broke her.

[ Continue to page 2 ]

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Genre:Living Dead
Type:Short story
Rating:5.58 / 10
Rated By:54 users
Comments: 4 users
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