Facing the Fear By Sophia Considine
Once upon a time, there was a girl called Robyn and her father who were descended from prisoners sent to Australia. Their ancestor was transported to Australia from Britain because he was a prisoner of war, originally from Germany. He was held in a prisoner of war camp, but after the war was over, all the prisoners of war were given the opportunity to go back to their home country. Robyn’s ancestor went back to Germany only to find out all of his family had been killed because he was taken prisoner. With that shocking news, he traveled back to Australia and began life anew, but there were some people who still viewed him as an outsider because of his previous allegiance…
~~~~~~~~ Robyn’s mother died when she was born, but she and her father were happy living alone on the outskirts of civilization. They enjoyed the solitude. However, when she turned 18 years old, her father remarried to a woman, who was cut off from her wealthy family, because they paid him to watch over her. She had one daughter who was smart, but very selfish. Barely three months after the marriage, Robyn’s father died of a supposed heart attack, and her stepmother and stepsister began abusing her, forcing her to do all the chores. “Everyone knows you’re descended from dirty prisoners!” the stepsister would say as an explanation.