Pearl
Aurora or Pearl as she liked to be called, cried out in pain as her mother once again hit her over the head with the half-empty beer bottle. Her head throbbed as blood and beer matted her head.
"It's all your fault." Pearl's mother slurred. She was drunk. She was angry. And she wanted something to hit. She was once a proud woman, in looks, in personality, in job. She was respected.
"It's your fault your father left!" She punched Pearl in the gut. "It's your fault your brother is gone!" Her mother shouted. She pushed the small brunette down the basement stairs. Pearl tumbled down motionless, hoping to not angry her mother any further.
With a look of pure loathing, she slammed the basement door close. The click of the lock rang out, meaning that she didn't want Pearl to be escaping. Though, Pearl questioned her intelligence. She didn't think that she'll be able to escape in her condition anyways. She blinked away tears and bit her lip from crying out loud in pain, as she stood up.
Her entire body ached and she just wanted to go to sleep. Pearl hobbled to a corner of the small basement and pulled out a roll of bandages and antibacterial medicine. She carefully spread the medicine across her many injures and wrapped and placed bandages on them.
Sighing, Pearl stood and limped towards her 'bed'. 'Yeah, bed.' She thought bitterly. 'More like a pathetic pile of blankets'. She sat down, pulled a warm blanket over her trembling legs, and broke into silent tears. She slowly cried herself to sleep, just like all those other nights before.
It was like this practically every single day. Wake up, go to school, get bullied for something she can't control, come home, get physically abused, do homework, go to sleep. She had thought about running away a few times, but couldn't bring herself to do it. Most kids would hate their parents for doing something like this to them, but she didn't.
Why? Cause she could remember the days where her brother Ferrox was alive and they were just one big happy family. Sure, their father had left them, and her mother was a little mad at him for leaving them twice, both times with a baby in her arms, but they were happy.
Then one day, Ferrox was gone. He had just randomly disappeared. Everyone, after the search assumed that he was as good as dead. Her mother had blamed everything on her, even though she didn't know anything about it. Well, that's what Pearl used to think. Her mother beat the blame into her head, said that she had killed him. And after a while, she started believing it.
But every time Pearl thought about running away, she always wondered what would happen if Ferrox came back. Would he go through the same thing she went through? What would her mother do if she left? She didn't work anymore, and relied on Pearl to do odd jobs around the town.
Even though her mother would abuse her, the small girl still wanted her approval. Still want her love. Still wanted to belong.
Is that normal?
