Through Toil, Tears, Blood and Fire
CHAPTER 1: Bad Days
Yeah okay, just decided to rewrite this thing because I'm bored. RnR people!
Toronto, Ontario, CANADA
2013
"Yo, wake up!" my mother yelled from the kitchen.
I groaned and rubbed my eyes as I got out of my bed and hobbled down the stairs.
"School today?" I asked blearily.
"Right as rain, darling." my father answered. School. The one thing I hated the most in the entire world.
"Seriously?! Can't I just skip school today? I don't even know why we even ―" I began to protest, before I was cut off by my very stubborn mother.
"Shut up and eat your breakfast, missy." my mother snapped.
I shut up in a heartbeat, even though my mind was spinning with protests and excuses.
"Why are you like this when it comes to school?" my dad asked.
"It's . . . it's . . ." I couldn't answer, because I didn't want to. My current tight spot in St. Henry was bad enough without my parents getting involved.
"Tell us, honey. We won't kill you!" my mother encouraged.
I simply shook my head and kept my lips sealed as I shoved spoonful after spoonful of yucky oatmeal into my mouth. When at long last I was finished with breakfast, I realized that I was going to be late. So I just grabbed my schoolbag and proceeded to head out the door and wait for a bus headed to Kipling station. Five minutes later, I hopped onto a subway train headed to Scarborough, where my school was. I looked out the window with a sigh. How could Toronto become so . . . ugly? It's hard to believe that the zombies actually took over, and that our mayor has been replaced by a football zombie who was mindless from top to bottom. It was hard to believe that all the buildings were crumbling ― even the CN Tower. It made tears spring into my eyes, and it made me want to run onto the steps of City Hall and have all of us plants enter into an irate conflict with the zombies right in Nathan Phillips Square. My thoughts were interrupted when I realized that I was already on the other side of Toronto. Not wasting a second, I hopped off the train and ran all the way to the school building, where the students were just chilling, or playing in the soccer field. I simply walked casually into the yard, when five plants sauntered over to me.
"Hey, Weird-e. Planning on killing somebody?" the Sunflower asked.
"No, Ellen. Now leave me alone before I do something to you all that I'll regret!" I retorted.
"Oh! She speaks well!" Alduin snickered.
"Guess she's a damn liar. As usual!" Carol sniggered.
"Shut your traps before I gouge your eyes out!" I yelled.
"Should we report you to the principal for making threats?" Albert and Brian snickered.
"Honestly! Why do you have to be so goddamned annoying?! Especially you, cursed Split Pea!" I cried.
"Really? You want us to beat you into a pulp?" Alduin asked.
Before I could answer, I was being kicked and punched everywhere for two minutes, then the group of five just left, laughing like stupes. Not wanting to show anybody that I was crying, I just ran into the building and went inside the washroom. As I looked into the mirror, I wanted to scream. I had bruises everywhere, my face had so many cuts, and my leaves were bleeding. My already-puffy eyes began to get puffier when I started to cry like crazy. Nobody could hear me, because frankly, nobody cares. I had no friends, and I was all alone. My parents would never understand, not in a million years. If only Adria and Alana were still alive, and not rotting under dirt in the spooky old graveyard by Humber Summit. I sighed, wiped my tears, and walked out the door as the ball rang.
I forced myself to deal with the tedious day filled with plants talking behind my stem, my teachers scolding me about my ugly appearance, and plants calling me "Weird-e". I somehow managed to stay calm, but at the end of the day, I totally lost it.
"Yo, Walkin' Winter! Why do you look like a zombie?" Brian asked.
"Yeah! Why do ya?" Albert echoed.
"I think you'd know!" I huffed as I made my way towards the subway station.
"Ooh, somebody's crystals have been pulled!" Ellen sniffed as she walked over to me, a stupid grin on her face. Then she leaned in, and decided to annoy me even more. "Hey, I heard that you have a crush on Alduin. Is that true?" Ellen asked.
"NO!" I yelled angrily. "Not anymore!"
But it was too late; the three plants were taunting me.
"Weirdo and Alduin sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage then comes a sprout in a ―"
I didn't give them a chance to continue. My instincts had taken over, like on so many occasions in the past, and my anger flew out. A swirling jet of snow and ice came flying out of my leaves, and I knocked the three down flat. Ellen had a saber mark across her forehead. Albert and Brian's teeth had been broken, and there was blood all over their mouths. As I slowly calmed down, and saw what I had done by mistake, I did what I always did to escape trouble as I saw Alduin head into the front door to tell the principal about me. I ran. I ran faster than a cheetah, into the subway station, and I ran into the train that was homeward bound. I looked at the tracks and sighed.
"Frigging tracks! Why must they be in such bad condition?" I cursed as the train moved slowly.
After what seemed like a million decades, the train had arrived at Kipling. I grabbed my bag, and made a dash for home. I didn't bother taking the bus, where all the plants and the occasional human would stare and laugh. Like I haven't had to endure that on the subway. Half an hour later, I was home. As I unlocked the door, I was greeted by a plant I never wanted to see for the rest of my goddamned life.
"Good afternoon, Aunt Mary." I growled as I stomped inside.
"Hold your fire, Elyssia! I'm just here to visit your parents! My, they must have done a n excellent job of raising you!" my aunt shot back. "And tell me, why do you look like a ragamuffin that barely escaped the bloody battle of York?"
I just sighed and ran into the living room. I slammed the door shut and walked over to my mother and father. "Mom, Dad, I need to talk to you." I whispered.
Yeah... this takes place in TORONTO! I just chose it because it's the place I know best. I was born in the downtown area, and I started taking the TTC subway with my mom when I was two. Yeah, it definitely is easier to write in a setting that I actually live in. Anyways, how was that for a first chapter? Let me know, and leave a review! ;-)
