A sixteen year old with haunted eyes, wearing worn, tattered shoes,
And her favorite denim jacket, in different shades of blues,
Travels with an outstretched thumb along the dusty highway,
Searching for a place to call home, a place to stay.

With twenty dollars to her name, and a little prayer,
She knows it won`t get her very far, but she doesn`t care.
The highway is a lonely road, there are no passers by,
How many times has she felt that way, trapped inside the lie.

She closes her eyes against the past, but then, what`s the use?
The darkness won`t ever heal the wounds caused by her father`s abuse.
Sarah was only four years old, when the touching began.
When the daddy who tucked her in at night, became a man.

Her mom died when she was eight years old, but she could not even mourn.
That night he took her innocence, leaving her ripped and torn.
For eight more years she suffered in silence while planning her escape.
Now she stands on the side of the highway, her mouth agape.

She knows the old lone pick-up truck coming straight towards her,
Fear grips and her heart races as panic begins to stir.
Her head starts spinning, her legs start shaking, as if she has been struck.
He pulls up a few feet from her and jumps out of the truck.

She desperately searches for a place to go whispering, ``Oh God, please!``
With one last wild look at him she runs to the welcoming trees.
He catches her halfway in the woods and throws her down to the ground,
She screams in desperation while the forest makes no sound.

He laughs that laugh and stares at her with a look she knows too well.
``God forgive me, please don`t judge me...I can`t go back to hell.``
She reaches for the only thing she took, it was her father`s colt,
The bullet flies quickly through the air, like a lightning bolt.

****************

A seventeen year old sits on a bed, feeling very tense.
Part of her is relieved at the ruling of self defense.
The other part knows the awful truth, that she took her father`s life.
But her scars won`t be opened again `cause when he died he took the knife.

Sarah looks into her daughter`s eyes, grieving all she`s lost.
Knowing she`ll protect her innocence, in spite of all the cost.