SAPPHIRE: An Autobiography

Chapter 1

My mother told me that when she gave birth to me, my eyes were wide open. My sister tells me that's the reason I'm so inquisitive.
I was born in a small hospital on an island. My parents said they didn't even expect me seeing as six years had already passed since their last child. Guess I was some sort of miracle child. I was meant to be a twin actually but my twin passed away before our due date. So it's just me. My dad gave me the name 'Divine' because he said I was a direct gift from God. I used to think he only said that to make me feel better. Since I found out that I was unexpected, I always felt I was a mistake. Like I was a random bomb dropped into their lives when they least expected it.

I know better now.

My parents love me to bits. I want to say it's a bit suffocating but I'd rather they love me a lot than not at all.

I have two sisters. Presley and Julie. I also have a brother, Delijah. Oh I forgot to mention, I go by Sapphire because that's my mum's birthstone. I've always been closer to Julie because it's a six year difference but I'm a flawed replica of Presley. Picture it this way, you have an identical twin sister or brother and they're the perfect kid while you're the one who never has anything to say about your day during dinner.

Moving on, my first words were their names. Presley always tells me the reason I started walking when I was thirteen months old is because everyone wanted to carry me and never left me alone, which means I was 'adorable.'

We lived in a cute little bungalow with a pretty big veranda where we would play games and have picnics when the sun was out. It was located in a very nice neighborhood. I was friends with all the neighbors' kids and we all hung out together almost everyday and we went to the same school. It was so much fun being a kid without any worries. What's happened to me so far has taught to to live in the present and not always wait for the future.

To be very honest, I don't remember a lot from my baby and toddler years so I'll just tell you some things I do remember.

I remember when I was three years old and I discovered the art of swimming. I would always sneak out of the house when it rained and roll in a puddle in our backyard. I did his all the time until one day my mum got a call from her friend across the street telling her I was in a puddle in the middle of the road. I didn't see what the big deal was, it's not like any car was driving. It's safe to say what she did to me drove all water related thoughts out of my head. It was nice while it lasted.

When I was five, I met this new boy in school. His name was Samuel. Pretty nice boy. He and I became great friends almost immediately we met. At this time, we still used to watch cartoons during classes and didn't do a lot of school work. One day, Samuel did something horrible to me. It was time for our 30 minute break so I decided to sleep cause I was really tired. I was almost asleep when I felt a hand in between my thighs. I thought it was probably just a bug or a thread from my dress so I left it and tried harder to fall asleep. Then I felt the hand again, only this time it wasn't between my thighs, it was in my underwear. I jumped with a start and screamed. Lo and behold, the culprit was Samuel. I started crying and went to tell the teacher. You know what she did? She gave him a time out. A TIME OUT!!! I didn't really know what s*xual assault or molestation was at the time but I know I felt very very uncomfortable. I didn't sleep in class again after that day. I told my mother after school and she came to school with me the next day. I don't remember too clearly but I think she slapped him two times in front of his mother. I remember being satisfied.

I should probably mention the people in my life at this time. My mum had a best friend who gave birth a month after my mum had me. She had a boy. His name is Emmanuel. He and I have been friends since before we could talk. We've always helped and supported each other no matter what. But as a little girl, I needed a female best friend so I got one. Her name is Cheryl. She was the absolute best. She and I had crushes on two boys in school who were also best friends, David and Russel. We would go to each other's houses after school to do homework and talk about them. It was so cringe now that I think about it. I was seven at the time, by the way. I had a few other friends like Oma and Tess who lived just next to my house, and Mariah who lived down the street.

When I was 7, Emmanuel and I were playing a game. It had to do with knocking down leaves from trees with stones. We tried and tried but no leaves fell off so I called it quits and said I was tired. As I turned to go back into the house, a large rock fell upon my head and I fell on the floor and started screaming. Presley and Julie came running out of the house towards me and saw blood soaking up the sand around my head. Presley picked my up and ran into the house to get my aunt. My aunt quickly rinsed my head off and wrapped a bandage around it. I couldn't think straight anymore. My parents had gone out for lunch and were just getting back. They saw the blood outside and ran in, asking what happened. Julie told them what happened and they came to remove the bandages and check it out. My dad had to take me to the hospital. There, we met a male doctor who was meant to give me a shot on my butt. Of course I resisted and said I wanted a female doctor instead. He told me there weren't any female doctors around and I had to deal with it. Before he gave me the shot, he was asking questions he thought were distracting like "What's your name?" or, "How old are you?" I was literally so irritated so I ignored him. After screaming the hospital down and losing my voice, he gave me what felt like a million pricks on my forehead. I later found out those were just stitches. Emmanuel didn't talk to me for a week after that cause my mum beat him up. Go mum. Well I celebrated my eighth year birthday with a bandage wrapped tightly around my head.

At around this time, my classmates started getting smarter, or maybe I should say 'started losing brain cells.' Almost every single day I would get called ugly or fat or something of the sort. I have no idea who exactly started it. All I know is it soon became a trend and everyone was trying to outdo themselves with the insults. I tried to insult them too but I didn't know how to so my comebacks always sounded lame. I think that's when the insecurities started. That's when I started looking in the mirror and hating my own reflection. At the age of eight, I could no longer classify myself as happy, only neutral. My family always tried to convince me I was beautiful but I don't think the words of a few people did anything compared to that of more than fifty.

Age ten, I graduated elementary school with perfect grades and insecurities.

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Good day everyone.
Happy new year to you all. I hope 2022 is a hundred times better than 2021 for all of us.

How do you like this so far? Any corrections? I didn't edit this by the way.

Bear in mind it's a lot easier to write fiction as it can be as wild as possible but when writing non-fiction, you only have the stories so you have to form expressions and everything else. Please don't roast me too much.

The next chapter starts from her high school journey. I think I'll give one chapter to each semester. What do you suggest?

Yours,
Sparkly duck.