Caged Bird

Yes father

Catherine

2 years ago

I sat in the class with the other girls as Mother continued teaching. I couldn't hear a word of what she was saying,my mind to busy daydreaming. I didn't really need to listen she was probably talking about the duties of a woman and how god would punish us if we refused to fulfill them. It was all we were ever taught.

I listened to the sounds of nature while my mind wandered barely hearing a word of what mother was saying. Plus the heat in the class was unbearable today, which is reasonable seeing as there were 50 girls in the room.

The bell rang, telling us it was prayer time, and we walked to the halls in a straight line. The boys had come back from hunting. We stood quietly waiting for Father's arrival. He was the head of our clan and the messenger who god sent to warn us and deliver us from sin.

As soon as we heard the clicking of his shoes, we bowed our heads. We weren't allowed to look at Father's face. Only Mother could do so. Once, this girl , Larsa looked up while Father was walking to the altar, and after she was punished by god. No one dared to ask her what Father looked like, and a week later, she was gone. No one knew what happened to her, but mother said that the angels had taken her away for her disobedience.

Father cleared his throat, and we all began to chant the oath of faith in unison, our heads still bowed. After we were done with the oath, father said the prayer of the messenger and the sermon began.

Father talked about the duties god had assigned to us,women to please men and men to provide. They was the structure of our existence girls in our clan were trained right from when they could walk in cooking,cleaning and other skills needed to please the men and when we were sixteen,we had to perform our last training rite. I watched all the women have theirs, and I was quite excited about mine. In a couple of weeks, I would be sixteen, and I could finally have mine.

When the rites were over,the women would no longer be allowed to talk freely with us or stay with us.

Father called out the names of the women and the men who would god had called to serve for the evening, and then he cleared his throat, and we said the oath of faith again. Our gazes remained on the ground until Mother came to give her speech.

Mother's speech was like a summary of Father's sermon, and it ended with her reciting the plea of the weak.

Our clan had a simple hierarchy. Father was the head as the divine messenger, and mother was the second in command as the god-given companion. After that , elder Nammu was the third in command. He was the oldest man in the clan.

After mother's sermon,the men and boys were told to leave. When they left, Mother began to call our names and tell us our assignments for the day before we were dismissed.

Life in the clan was structural. The men hunted, and the women pleased the men. Mother told us that the outside world was filled with sin

She used to tell us stories when we were younger about how in the outside world, there were monsters and strange creatures. Father had built a wall to protect us from the dangers of the outside world.

We were always told that if we left, god would punish us and kill us . No one ever dared to question the stories we were told. No one dared to cross the wall.

We lived in hostels and prayed three times daily. The clan was my home and family. It was where I belonged.

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Warning: This part contains themes of r@pe

I sit in the tent on my sixteenth birthday, the burn from the mark given to me, making my eyes water.

It was finally time for my last training rite. I waited for instructions on what to do next as I sat on the bed blindfolded

I was still excited for the rest of the rite. I knew Father would be coming to pray for me.

I heard the footsteps before I felt hands on my wrist, forcing me down and panic shot through me. Just as I was about to scream, I was gagged with a cloth. I trashed, limbs flying, trying to get the person off me

That was when I felt a blow to my face, and I heard the voice. It was Father. " Silence, you ungrateful rat, this is your penance for your sins. " . My body freezed, my heart bounding. I whimpered and begged for him to stop, I tried to push him off me, but each time I struggled, I earned a hit from him.

At some point, I lay still like a lifeless doll naled as I let him touch me. It was at that point,through the pain and hurt, that I would never be the same girl

When Father was done, he got up and left, leaving me in the cold, dark room.

I heard footsteps, no doubt of the women coming to clean me up. I heard Mother's voice loud and clear as she asked me to say the oath of faith. I said it with a hollow voice. This would be the last time I would ever say those words.

When the women were done, they handed me new clothes and led me to my new room. As they left the room, I sat on my bed, I wasn't crying, no. I was plotting.

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I know this chapter was short, but it was like an introduction to the book.
Just to clarify, Father is not Catherine's biological father, and I'm not throwing shade at any culture or religion.

😊 Thanks for reading