Dorry's Dilemma

She's twelve years old and she's desperately in love with the fourteen year-old boy who lives next door. He knows her as his best friend, but he's too preoccupied with this own travails to return her affection. After all, since his mother went missing three years previously, his father has become more violent and abusive with each passing day. Dorry longs to save her young love interest, but she feels powerless to do so. Young Dorry loves the fourteen year-old boy next door, but his abusive father is an endless distraction. She'll do anything to save her lover. An insightful short story.