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Reviewed by Rosie Malezer for Readers' Favorite
End of the Line is a short story written by Steven Penny. Eight-year-old Maeve O’Grady yearns for days gone by, when there was love and peace between her parents. Living with her mother, Caroline McCandless, on weekdays and with her father, Dave O’Grady, on weekends, the only thing Maeve ever witnesses between them is scathing remarks filled with hatred, as they use their daughter as leverage against each other. Being a fan of reading, Maeve loves nothing more than to immerse herself in her books, and spends countless hours at Belfast library, determined to escape their constant fighting. Over time, an inner voice tells Maeve that she is worthless and invisible, as Maeve withdraws inside her own mind more and more, trying to create a world of love and peace between the two people she loves the most. When her parents aren't watching, Maeve encounters a man on a train who is able to penetrate her mind, leading to the ultimate tragedy.
It took some time for me to get my breath back after reading Steven Penny’s short story, which gives amazing insight into the mind of a young child with the weight of the world on her shoulders, when she should be doing nothing more than loving and enjoying life. So many times, parents don’t see the damage that their arguing and fighting is doing to their own children until it is too late. Whilst I smiled at Maeve’s love of books, the shocking ending of this one took me by surprise, stirring up a lot of sadness, grief and horror. End of the Line is a book of true finality, both emotional and physical, in the terrifying world we live in today.
Steven Penny has easily conveyed the inner and outer workings of two bitter parents and the innocence of a child, so completely devastated and destroyed by their words, to the point where she feels invisible. Children cannot see what their parents feel or think, but can see (and sometimes hear) their outward exchanges. I take my hat off to any author who is able to project such highly conflicting feelings into words, and recommend this read to those over the age of 18 years who are not afraid of graphically confronting subject matter.
