Melissa Baker

A Two-Way Street Melissa Baker

"The sun is setting over the water's edge. The harbour laps upon the shore. Bright colours are painted sombrely across an exquisite sky. Lovers gather to watch the evening's entertainment. But for me, sitting under this tree, wallowing in self-pity and trying to get a grip of my forgotten years, I do not notice the picture before me. I cannot look beyond myself. I do not know who I am anymore or who I really was. I cannot see a way out and I certainly cannot see a future. My life is not worth living. I ponder to myself, 'What is life anyway? Is life a one-way street? Can you ever turn back from the things you have done? Is life a violent crime? Everyone hurts you and robs you. Is life this unloving, uncaring, distrusting and meaningless? Is life full of pain, hardships, loss and death? Is life found under a bridge?'"Come on a journey with me into the depths of my story, as an abused child growing up in what seemed like a normal middle-class family, and how I found myself sleeping under a bridge as a teenager. This is part 1 of a 4 part series.