South Africa, 1999:

She flips through the three channels of her television, waiting for something interesting to begin. Her two brothers wrestle on the floor for some reason not concerning her. Something interesting catches her eye on the television and she stops her searching. It's one of her favorite shows from the states, Cousin Skeeter.

"Oh dear lord." her older sister says from behind her. "Not this show again. I thought we got rid of it when we left California." the younger one rolls her eyes at her sister; toning her out.

"Lunch is ready!" Her mom yells from the kitchen. The two boys spring up and race to the table, trying to push one another down.

"But mom," she whines. "Cousin Skeeter just started!"

Her mom steps out of the kitchen and into her line of view with her hands made into fists placed gently on her hips.

"But Allison," she mimics with a smirk on her face. "It's family bonding time." Allison gives her mother the death glare, but she only giggles.

"Now, come on," she walks back into the kitchen and gets everyone's lunch. "Can you go find your father, Allison darling?" she asks right before Allison was about to sit down.

"Mom! I was- fine." She gets up from the table, her brothers snickering as she stomps outside into the front yard.

The eye can only take in so much land without getting overwhelmed by its vast beauty. Hills roll over one another; the tall grass gently dancing with the wind.

It's easy to spot people from a distance, so when Allison didn't see her father anywhere, she began to panic.

Where are you father? She runs towards the back of the house, searching every corner. Her father had always told her to be careful in the tall grass for there could be snakes that would kill her no matter what.

No! That can't happen to him! Now where is he?! She starts to jog back to the front when her legs stop moving. Before she can panic even more, she finds him.

But she's not in the yard anymore. She is standing in front of a native's hut right as her father comes out sweaty and half naked. Behind him is a native woman with a huge smile on her face. The woman has no clothes on and when her father swoops down to give her a kiss; her body reacts in clear sight.

"Father?" She whispers in shock, but it is as if she is in a dream and anything she says and does will not affect them.

He breaks the kiss, saying something in her language. He puts his shirt on and starts to walk away from the woman and out of her village.

Allison watches as he walks away, and once he is out of sight, she is back in her back yard. As she catches her breath, she hears her mom call her from the window.

"It's alright Allison! I forgot that he told me that he was going to be late for dinner tonight!" She pops her head back in that closes the window.

As Allison walks into the dinning room, her mom smiles warmly. Something pulls on Allison and she sees through her mom's eyes her father lying in the tall grass dead and she senses fear all around her. But she knows it's not real because the scene changes to her mom and father tangled in bed, the sheets strewn around; desire filling the air.

Allison comes back to her own eyes and sees that no one has moved an inch. Her mother is still smiling and her youngest brother's fork is still going up into his mouth.

She walks carefully to her seat, trying her best not to meet another family member in the eye.

"What is wrong Allison?" her sister asks. Allison makes the mistake of looking up and gets sucked, yet again, into another's fears and desires. Her sister's fear is much like their father's affair. She fears that her relationship with Anket, one of the farm workers, will be found out by her parents and that they will be forced to go their separate ways. But her desire is for her fear to be found out so that she and Anket can run away together and go to the states.

"Nothing, I guess I'm just worried about father." She says when she comes out of her trance. "He's always saying how we should be careful playing in the tall grass," she glances over at her mother who is cutting her meat up, looking pale. "I sure hope that none of the workers got hurt and father had to take him to the hospital!" Her eyes lock with her sister's and suspicion rises in her eyes.

"Would you stop it?" Their mother whispers obviously on the edge. "Seriously Allison! That imagination of yours is getting too violent!"

The door swings opens, and in comes her father with a smile plastered on his face.

"Sorry I'm late." He says as he sits down heavily in his chair. Allison glares at him as he stuffs her mom's famous mashed potatoes into his mouth. "Mhmm awa' da besh" He manages to say with food crammed in.

He catches Allison's eye and looks worried. "What is wrong Allison?" She does not answer, continuing to glare, and when he goes to touch her hand, she sharply pulls away.

"Do not touch me you filthy vermin." She hisses. Her mother stands up and smacks her across the face.

"How dare you say that to your father!" Her face is beet red and her eyes start to water up. "How did you find out?" She whispers as she sits back down gingerly. The father looks at her with eyes wide open, still unsure if they are talking about his affair.

"Wha-What are you two talking about?" This time it was her mother's time to glare at him.

"Ha! You know exactly what we're talking about Steve." Everyone at the tables watches the parents, waiting for one of them to talk again.

Allison looks up at her younger brothers, and knows soon their fears. Her father used to get angry a lot when they were younger and it would result in blood and tears. This is what almost everyone at the table feared at this very second.

Steve gingerly places his head into his hands, sighing deeply.

"How long have you known?" He asks not daring to look anyone in the eye.

Her sister and brothers sit there, perplexed about the whole situation. Something clicks in her eldest sisters' eyes and tears start to pour out.

Her father stands up, shoving his chair across the living room. Her brothers cower in fear as he runs outside, disappearing into the night.

Later that night, Allison wakes up from a terrifying dream of her mother hanging herself in the laundry room.

She runs through the main hallway, waking up her sister along the way. When they open the door to the laundry room, they watch in horror as their mother's body hangs limp and fresh from the ceiling.