I don't often review short stories on my blog but I have to make an exception for Invisible by Jeff Erno. Bullying is an issue that will always be close to my heart, it effects thousands of teens every single day and as someone who went through it myself I know just how hard it is to have a target painted on your back and feel like everyone is against you. Any story that can raise awareness of the problem and perhaps get a bully to think twice before they act is a good thing and Invisible does and excellent job of that.Invisible may focus on a teen who is being bullied for his sexuality but the feelings he describes are exactly the same for anyone who is suffering from bullying and I think most people will be able to relate to Chase's story. I'll tell you right now that this 14 page story broke my heart, I have never, ever, had such a strong reaction to such a short piece of writing and by the time I finished I found myself sobbing like a baby! I'm not going to give spoilers by telling you much more but I will say that a lot of those tears were happy ones. I don't want to give the impression that this is a depressing read because although it tackles a very difficult subject it leaves you with a sense of hope at the end.
Jeff Erno's writing is powerful and thought provoking. It raises the very valid point that if you sit back and watch the bullies at work without doing anything to stop them then you are just encouraging them to continue. Unless someone speaks up their behaviour will carry on and in all likelihood escalate. We all need to take a stand against any form of abuse, standing by and ignoring it is just not acceptable.
Bullying isn't an issue that goes away when you leave school, I know my experiences still have an impact on the way I see myself and I'm sure I'm not in the minority there. I also think that most adults will have come across some form of bullying since they left school - be it in the workplace, at their local pub or anywhere else that groups of people spend a lot of time together. Hell, we see it all the time in online communities too - just because people are sitting behind a computer screen they feel it is acceptable to victimise others!
If you ever suffered from bullying then you need to read this story, if you ever stood by and watched someone else get bullied then you need to read this story and most of all if you are or ever were a bully you need to read this story. Basically I think everyone should read Invisible! It will take 10 minutes of your time and it won't even cost you anything but it might just change the way you look at things.
Read this story online for free on the author's website here: http://www.jefferno.com/free-reads-list.php