Alice is 9

Hi Elyse, This is a difficult piece. I was reading with dread, hoping against hope right up until we find out why Alice is seeing Dr. Hatfield. Rape and trauma are far too common and there must be a voice but it doesn’t make reading about it easy. You did a good job. In particular I thought the contrast between the pretty pink fairy-tale-land as representative of traditional innocent girl-hood and the reality of Alice waking up naked was executed very well. I was touched by Alice being brave and telling her mom she could handle going to school, such a sweet action and that coupled with her mom laying in bed watching TV a lot made me think Alice was used to taking care of her mom. One thing I would suggest would be to continue working on a distinct voice for Alice. I heard her a few times, especially the bit when she was figuring out the horn was fabric sewn together, very sweet and thoughtful.

Elise,

Wow. I certainly wasn’t expecting this. It took two careful readings for me to figure out what had happened. Then I was stunned.

Something similar happened to me in primary school. I wasn’t raped, but I certainly was molested. It’s not easy to talk about, especially for a nine year old. Your obliquity was perfect.

Princess Pinkey Pie was an expressive vehicle for Alice to act out her trauma. A pity the psychologist didn’t pick up on it. You drew a very accurate picture of childhood sexual trauma, but the caring adults weren’t able to decipher her depiction of the events. Isn’t that how it usually goes?

You handle the story very sensitively. My only caveat is Alice’s way of speaking to her mother. Clearly she is worried about her, but the way she verbalizes it seems to me to be too old for her years. Would a traumatized child say “Its school Mom. I think I can handle it on my own”? I’m not sure. Maybe it depends on the child. But it seemed too composed and adult for a nine year old.

This is a very courageous telling (or re-telling) of a difficult event. Well done.

Judith