Cane Hill Asylum Story

Emily Taylor
English Coursework
1st July 2009, Wednesday.

Cane Hill.
Chapter One.
They say I’m ill. They say I’ll be back soon though. ‘I feel fine!’ I tell them. But they don’t listen, nobody ever listens to me. They just say ‘It’s in your mind’. I don’t understand why they say it’s in my mind though. It’s not exactly going to be in theirs. Is it?
They say they’re taking me to a pretty place. Somewhere I can be happy. But I ask my friends about it, and they say to leave. To not let them take me. When I inform neighbours of where I’m going for my little ‘break’ (as they call it) , people look shocked, and walk away from me. Other people give me dirty looks. One person even spat on me! I didn’t understand why though.
At school, the other girls and boys call me names. Names like ‘looney’ and ‘weirdo’. I don’t like it when they call me names. It makes me angry. When I’m angry, Jane comes. I don’t like Jane. It’s Jane’s fault that I can’t stay here with Johnny and Bobbie. Bobbie is much younger than me, she’s just five. She cries a lot, she’s my sister though so I’ve got to love her. Even if she wakes me up in the night! Johnny is my big brother, he’s sixteen. Johnny’s the one that looks out for me, he’s the only one that understands. I heard Johnny & Daddy shouting this morning. I wondered what was going on and so I listened outside the kitchen door as they were sat at the table. Daddy had told Johnny where I was going. Johnny was crying. I don’t like it when Johnny’s upset. Because I’m only eleven, I can’t help him; especially as he’s so much taller than me. Since I couldn’t help Johnny, Jane came. Jane and I just kept listening in on their conversation. Dad told Johnny that me going away was for the best. Johnny told Daddy that sending me away wasn’t going to help, and that at a time like this, what I needed was to be closer to the family, not further away, he told Dad that Mum wouldn’t have sent me away. Daddy shouted at Johnny he said “Don’t you tell me...