This is one moment that sticks in my memory, one that stands out more than others. It is bold and clear and impossible to forget. The sharp figures of my parents stand out against a blurry background.
I was about 7 years old and had just had my evening bath with my sister. We both smelt of talcum powder and bubble bath. I felt fresh and clean and ready to go to sleep. I put my favourite red floral dressing gown on and had started up the stairs towards my bedroom, when I suddenly heard a loud crash. Startled I grabbed my sisters" hand and brought her with me to investigate what had made the sound. .
As we reached the bottom of the stairs we could see mum and dad in the kitchen, they were yelling at each other. I didn't understand why, my parents loved each other why were they yelling? I asked my mum something, (what I asked I can't remember, the importance of it was obviously minimal, just something to reassure me that it was all alright) but she appeared to be deaf to the sound of my voice. .
I suddenly noticed a plate lying in shatters on the ground. Then all of a sudden I heard another crash, but this time I saw what had happened. My father had pulled a plate off the dish rack and thrown it at my mother. I started to cry, thinking that it would turn their attention away from their fight and on to me, but they were oblivious to my choking tears. I couldn't move, I was frozen to my spot on the bottom of the staircase, my sister by my side. I watched in fear, as my father seemingly got angrier and angrier. I didn't know what to do. He was hitting my mother on the face, on the neck, in the stomach. She stopped protesting and lay there silently crying. My fathers rage all of a sudden broke he stormed away, as though he had done enough damage for one night. He went to the lounge room and watched TV. He turned the volume up loud so as to drown out my mothers sobbing.
.
My mom stopped sobbing and got up, I was still frozen, as was my sister.
