by Tracy A. Moore

Created on: August 15, 2010

Annie was well known as the good girl. She stayed at home to help her parents while all of her friends graduated and left their small town for college and careers. All of the neighbors knew that Annie could be counted on for just about anything from running errands to babysitting at a moments notice. Everyone remarked on how she greeted each request with a cheerful smile.

Things remained the same for many years, with Annie still seemingly content living in her childhood bedroom and helping the many people that had come to depend on her. She had reached the age of forty now and nothing much had changed. There had been many times that she had mentioned going back to school and moving out. This had always been met with questions about who would take care of the garden, running the errands, paying the bills every month, and keeping up with all of the household chores.

Overwhelmed by guilt, Annie remained. The only difference was that when she went to her room at night she grumbled, raged, and cried. What no one seemed to notice was that she had been so busy taking care of all of them that she had not accomplished anything for herself. Even as a young girl, she had been extra sensitive to the needs of others. Instead of encouraging her to use her talents to better herself, they had exploited it for their own wants.

One day, she woke up and walked right out the door without even saying good morning. When she went to the library, there were five people that she ran into, asking her for help with various things. Her reply to each was a curt no. Later in the afternoon she went home to find her parents angry that they had to do all of her chores.

In response to their anger, she laughed and told them that she had been out secretly applying for colleges over the last several weeks and was moving out. Instead of congratulations, she was met with scorn for her selfishness. She walked up the stairs and grabbed her packed suitcase from the closet. On her way out the door, her parents told her that she would never make it. Slowly and contentedly Annie walked down the street to the bus station to wait for her ride out of town.

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