Written for the Freeverse Challenge. Prompts given were: Pete. Frosty. Catch. Bandage.
Updated and extended 22/04/2015
Pete
His mother told him he was a catch,
If he was seen in the right light,
By the right people.
His father called him a bandage.
He was always there to patch up
Other people's mistakes.
-o0o-
The werewolf called him tainted;
Said his friends were bad for him
And he was better than them.
Those friends named him Wormtail,
Because the rat as a whole was not
Simple enough for him.
-o0o-
The red-head called him poor,
In a tone meant to sound sympathetic
But the condescension rang clear.
The cat-lady spoke of potential
That was supposed to sound hopeful
But Peter felt empty.
-o0o-
As the frosty undertones
Of these comments weighed heavy
On his mind, he swore to himself
He would be something more.
-o0o-
He'd thought he might only ever be what they told him he was,
As he stood and watched countless others die.
He thought their lives were wasted just because
They had never really been much more than nice.
-o0o-
When the blackness crept up to whisper softly in his ear,
Sweet nothings and promises broken before they were spoke
His chance within his grasp and shining bright:
He'd thought it a light at the end of a dark cloudless night.
It turned out to be fire.