Stolen

 An unassuming child is raised by a family she has always loved, despite feeling as though she had a previous life without them long before she could remember things clearly. Her whole life has been great, though, so she buys into the constant reminder from her mother that she should be very grateful for everything she has - after all, the mother insists, she has made it all possible for her daughter to get to do the things she does: practice ballet, music, and be in all kinds of performances now.

It isn’t until the girl becomes of age to be able to get a real job and go to college, however, that she finds out something disturbing and beyond any of her wildest imaginations: she was stolen at birth. But that isn’t all she realizes. Her whole life was a lie essentially. The girl never wanted to be in ballet, music or perform for people - as fun as it may have been the first few times - and now feels torn and betrayed in a thousand ways: who was this woman who raised her but wasn’t her real mother?

The girl, no longer a child but now a young adult, must face the difficult questions and answers, the agonizing truth behind her mother’s actions years ago, and now with all the future ahead, must learn to accept a family she truly belonged to, but never knew.

Word count: 238