Never the Same After...Well... You know

After she was raped, the initial reaction of family, friends and admirers was to soothe and comfort her but that was only at first, because, as time passed, there was a palpable distance, oh yeah, with pity and sympathy, but no one wanting to come really close if you know what I mean.


She wasn't shunned, exactly, it was just that everything was superficial with people feeling sorry from a distance, fear or helplessness or underlying apathy making them part of a widening perimeter when she desperately needed that circle to go the other way.


So brutal was the attack, her self-esteem was gone erasing all but inklings of her former beauty on the outside. Despite her vibrant soul remaining intact, the label of "damaged goods" was as indelible as it was invisible, and she came to grips knowing that forever after, she would be, 'Oh yeah, that girl.'


Bystanders witnessed the attack, stood helplessly watching the savagery as the merciless attacker was caught on cameras, everywhere, and named "Katrina."


'Her' name was New Orleans, and she was about to suffer another savage beating, only this time, from the bottom of a tainted sea.