Rated T for brief strong language. Just so you know. I don't want, like, 5 year olds reading the word "fuck". I'm not into corrupting innocent youth. But then again, why 5 year olds would be watching Bones?
My parents weren't here yesterday. No note. No nothing. I tell myself that they were just out getting a few last minute Christmas presents, and they came in late so I didn't see them. Yup, that's probably what happened. I'll yell at them once I get downstairs and to the Christmas tree. They'll be waiting there like always, my father with a newspaper in hand sitting in his favorite chair, and my mother humming a familiar tune in the kitchen while she makes hot chocolate and cinnamon buns.
I slide out of my warm bed and out my bedroom door. I pass Russ's room and see that his door is ajar. I peek in, and sure enough, his bed is empty. From downstairs I can hear Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer playing. "She thinks I'm cuuuute! She thinks I'm cuuuute!" Rudolf says in a stuffed-up voice after Clarisse whispers in his ear.
I tip-toe down the stairs, hoping to surprise my parents by shouting "Merry Christmas!". I turn the corner to the family room. There, placing wrapped presents under the tree and polishing off the milk and cookies I set out for "Santa", is my brother. Not my parents.
I throw myself at him, shrieking, "Where's Mom and Dad?"
He looks around nervously and clears his throat. "Tempe... they aren't here."
"Are they out getting the paper?" I ask in a small voice. Somehow, I don't think this is true.
"They never came back last night."
What?"
He looks at me pityingly and repeats it.
They never came home last night. They never came home last night. They never came home last night. Those words echo inside my head, playing in an endless round. They never came home last night. They never came home... They never came... They never....They....
Russ runs his hand through his hair and continues. "So, um, I didn't want you to feel to bad, so I made Christmas for you."
I look blankly at him. "I don't want your Christmas, Russ! I want Mommy and Daddy's Christmas!" Russ shoves a present into my hands. What does he think? That I'm gonna shut up like a child if he gives me gifts? "NO! I can't open a present without them! We gotta wait for them! I can't open this without them! We need to wait for them so they can video tape us and we can thank them and then we can eat dinner and sit by the fire and watch movies..."
I throw the gift at his head. He looks at the fallen present and leaves his room in a daze.
"COME BACK HERE, RUSS! I'M NOT DONE TALKING TO YOU! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE AND WAIT FOR MOM AND DAD!" I scream.
"THEY AREN'T COMING BACK, TEMPE! WHEN WILL YOU GET THAT THROUGH YOUR FUCKING THICK SKULL?" he shouts back.
Not coming back....not coming back... not coming back..... No, they will they will! Tempe go to the couch and watch Rudolf and wait, I order myself. Parking myself in my father's favorite chair, I curl up and watch the movie. But I am so tired, so very tired, and I fall into a disturbed slumber and dream.
I dream I am in the Island of Misfit Toys with Rudolf and Yukon Cornelius and Herbie. We have gone to the King, and after Cornelius and Rudolf and Herbie explain why they are here, and he sends them off, the King points his scepter at me and bellows menacingly, "And why are YOU here, Temperance?"
But my jaws are glued together and I can't answer him.
"I'll tell you why you are here! You are a misfit! Your parents don't want you, that's why they left you and Russell. You aren't wanted. No one wants you. You are unlovable. No one will stay in your life. No one wants to stay in your life, and they will leave you eventually. You are such a misfit, that we don't even want you! So be gone, Temperance!"
He points at his guards and they grab me under the arms, pulling me away from him. The King starts to chant, "Temperance is misfit! No one loves her, and no one will!"
The guards drag me into a deep, dark chamber labeled "The Land of Misfit Girls". There is another girl there. They throw me in roughly and shut the door. It is completely dark except for a small sliver of light from a broken board. I inch toward the girl. "H-hi," I say.
The shadow of the girl in the corner shifts slightly. "Don't worry. I'm a misfit too. Apparently." I try to make conversation with her. I don't like being alone.
The girl coughs. "Yeah, this is where unlovable misfits go." she whispers in a croaky voice. It doesn't sound like she has spoken to anyone in a really, really long time.
"How long have you been here?"
"Too, too long."
I frown. "What's your name?"
The girl mumbles her name.
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Can you repeat it, please?" I ask politely.
"Temperance." she says.
I blink in shock. "Hey! That's my name!"
"I know." The girl steps into the tiny sliver of light. Her hair is gray with auburn streaked in it. Her face has scars on it, and her mouth is deformed into a permanent frown. But her blue eyes are piercing and chilling. They stare deep into my soul, and I shiver. She is not a girl at all, she is an old woman.
And then I realize it. Temperance is me. I am in the hole for the rest of my life. I will be an unlovable misfit for the rest of my life.
I scream. An inhuman, horrifying scream.
"Tempe! Tempe, wake up, it's not real, you're just dreaming!" Russ shakes me awake.
I look at his concerned face, and remember what the King told me. No one will stay. And I start to cry. Russ tries to put his arm around me, but if he's just going to leave me, why get attached? I push him away, and bury my head in my arms. "Go away!" I wail.
I don't look up until I hear his footsteps in the other room. And when I look up, the room is empty empty empty except for the tree and stack of presents. Russ left, just like the King said he would.
Sobbing, I put my head back in my arms and fall into myself. I am falling falling falling, and no one can reach me because I have gone where the unlovable misfit girls go.
You read, you comment. Common courtesy, people. Look at my profile for my long policy on it. Hope you enjoyed, I enjoyed writing it.
xoxoxo Something Witty Goes Here