Chapter 13 - The Essay
During Emily's senior year of high school, her English teacher assigned an essay:
Describe one moment that changed your understanding of courage.
Emily stared at the blank page.
She could have written about the 911 call.
Instead, she wrote about the morning she returned to school.
The parking lot.
Charlie beneath her arm.
Sarah waiting in the car.
Walking through the doors despite wanting to run back.
Her conclusion contained one sentence her teacher underlined:
Sometimes escaping danger takes courage, but learning to live afterward takes courage too.
The essay won a statewide student-writing award.
Emily didn't tell reporters the history behind it.
The story belonged to her.
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She had spent enough of childhood feeling that other people controlled what could be said.
Now she controlled her own words.
