My name… Is Mink… And, I'm a mute.

I've been a mute ever since I can first remember. My mother and father tell me that I happened as a default of my birth. Never once did I question them, well… I couldn't.

All day I carry around a paper pad and a pen. My handwriting isn't the best. My Y's sometimes look like X's. My U's looks like V's. My I's are messy. Barely anyone can read it… Well, anyone that even takes the time to see my opinions and thoughts.

My mother died while giving birth to me. Though my father tells me I have my mother's eyes. A mixture of green and blue. I don't understand why my family calls them 'pretty' or 'amazing' or 'beautiful'. It makes less than no sense to me. They are just eyes… I don't see what makes them so 'perfect'.

My father sometimes can't even bear to look at me. Must be my 'gorgeous' eyes that remind him of my mother. On these days, I'll be stuck by myself in the house while my father spends time at the cemetery.

I have zero memory of my mother. Not even when I look at pictures. When I do however, I see a woman. That's all. Just a random woman whose pictures are in every spot and corner of the foyer, living room, kitchen and everywhere in between. Sometimes, I don't even see myself in my father or my mother. Makes me think that the whole story that I was told time and time again is just a lie and that I was adopted or someone killed my mother and then- I should just stop worrying about my past and looks onto the future.

My name is Mink. I am 15 years old. My vocal cords are shot, making me… A mute.

It was the day of my 15th birthday. My father was down by the port getting ready for today's haul of fish for the capital of Greenland, the world's largest island. Yet, as some say that it's a miracle that we were settled here, but I never exactly believe in miracles. Only one miracle ever happened to me.

Opening my eyes, I saw a balloon tied to a chair at my desk. Smiling just a little as the balloon continued to turn in a circle do the current of the air blowing around in my room, I remembered just how terrible today was going to be.

A couple of the bullies down at the end of the street… They had a plan for me today… But, at the time, I never thought that it would include-

"Mink! Er du op endnu søn? (Mink! Are you up yet, Son?)"

I was completely shocked at this point. My father has to wake up at the crack of dawn to start to fishing and he only comes home a little bit after dusk. Only few times is he home for the weekends, but today is a Tuesday. Why would he be home now?

"Mink?" He called me once more.

I hopped out of bed and knocked on the wall. Hopefully, I knocked hard enough for my dad to hear me.

"Oh godt. Nu får klædt. Der er nogle naboer her for at se dig. De sagde, de havde en overraskelse. (Oh good. Now, get dressed. There are some neighbors here to see you. They said they had a surprise.)" My father told me.

Boy was I confused. No one ever paid attention to me. Beaming wide, I quickly threw on some pants and a heavy shirt. It was winter time, meaning freezing temperatures for Greenland. I'm not even sure why it's called Greenland. It's so icy here…

I grabbed my jacket, a pen and my paper pad. Maybe these people would be the first ones that actually care what I think. I'm not even sure if my father does sometimes.

"Jeg er nødt til at gå nu, Mink. De venter på dig i stuen. (I have to go now, Mink. They are waiting for you in the living room.)" My father said, and soon after I heard the door slam shut.

To be honest, I was a bit sad to know my father was going to work all day on my birthday, but… On my birthday… My mother also died… You can't blame my father for not wanting to spend time with me today… I think.

I opened my door. What neighbors? The girl a few houses down? Or maybe the little boy who always stares at me... Any one of them I would be happy to see, but not who was standing in my house.

"Tillykke med fødselsdagen, Mink. Hehe ... Er du klar til din overraskelse? Grib ham. (Happy birthday, Mink. Hehe... Are you ready for your surprise? Grab him.)"

There I stood, helpless and speechless in my own house as a couple of the most evil people in Nuuk grabbed my hands and held me down. My jacket and pad were yards away from where I was being forced to my knees.

"Nat nat, Mink. (Night night, Mink.)" One of them said to me.

I felt a bat hit my head from behind me, and I drifted off into darkness.

Yes. The bullies of my hometown had grabbed me. At the time, I never would of thought that they, the bullies, would go as far as they did.

To kill me.

When I awoke from my never ending darkness, I could barely breathe. My limbs were blue and frozen. My body was stripped of all of its clothing. Never in my life, had I wanted to scream as much as I did then. Opening my eyes, I saw that I was sinking into the depths of the ocean as each second zoomed by. I saw the faces of my killers, high fiving themselves as they watched me fall deeper and deeper. I wanted to swim back up, but I would never of made it for I was too deep down. My lungs felt like they were about to explode and so did my head from the pressure.

My mouth opened and I let out a scream. Bubbles floated up to the surfaces and popped. And then…

I closed my eyes as I drifted away into millennium.

My name is Mink. I am 15 years old. On my 15th Birthday I was drowned. On my 15th Birthday, I spoke for the first time in my life. And now, my body lays on the bottom of the ocean. Broken and frozen. Fish have eaten away at my flesh and now I am all but a skeleton. A layer of new formed ice traps me from flying up and away…

But, here I remain…

As a mute skeleton… Sleeping with the fishes.

Dead…

…I never asked for this…
…In fact, I couldn't…