“I don’t want to.”
Grandpa looked at me.
“Emily, please trust me.”
From that day on, everything repeated itself.
We went into the woods, I changed my clothes, and then we approached the stream.
Sometimes I was so frightened that I couldn’t even speak.
Sometimes I cried.
Once, I even screamed at the top of my lungs.
“GRANDPA, PLEASE, STOP!”
He stopped immediately.
“All right, Emily. That’s enough for today.”
But the next day, we returned again.
Every time I came home, my clothes were wet, my eyes were red, and my hands were trembling.
My mother began noticing.
“Emily, what’s happening to you?”
“Nothing, Mom.”
“Then why have you been crying?”
“I’m just tired.”
One evening, she noticed how pale I became when Grandpa called my phone.