The first time he visited our room it was dark. I could see the moon through the corner of the window blinking at me like a giant eye. Clouds scudded across its face leaving the room one moment lost in shadow, the next immersed in light.
The shadows came together and took bodily form, my father’s silhouette against the window. He was leaning over my sister.
Her bed ran parallel to mine with a narrow passage between, now occupied by him.
I heaved across to face the wall. I tried to make it look as though I was turning in my sleep. I tried to make it look as though I was asleep. If he thought I was asleep, he might leave me alone.
I could hear the sound of blankets peeling back, the rustle of sheets, moans and murmurs. I could not bring myself to look, afraid of what I might see, afraid of what might be happening.
Then as suddenly as he had come, I heard the soft thud of my father’s bare feet across the room, the rattly turning of the door handle and he was gone.
The moon had gone by now, too, lost behind the clouds.
In the stillness I could hear my sister sobbing and I wondered what it would be like when my turn came around.