From Tadpole to Toad
By Todd Fan
Disclaimer: "English - Who needs that? I'm never going to England"
**
Here it is, the 7th instalment of the Sidney Chronicles, and finally we get to the Todd origin story. This fic is rated for it's darkness, you have been warned. For once, you can be a newcomer to the Chronicles, and probably still be able to understand most of this, it's a Prequel. Most of this is from Todd's POV, and is the shortest of my chronicles with only 7 chapters, but don't fear, the 8th cronicle will make up for it by being the biggest. ;)
**
Chapter 1 - A cross to bear
**
Dawn. A time for reflection, a time to look forward to the day ahead, a time to cleanse and be cleansed...a time to be honest. Todd Tolensky had been up way before dawn, looking out of his window of the Brotherhood of Bayville Boarding House. He gave one final sigh as the red line across the skyline grew bigger, heralding the arrival of the sun....and a new day. Todd turned from his window and sat down at the small desk in his bedroom. Next to him were piles of paper, and the wastepaper bin next to the desk was filled with scrunched up balls of paper. He'd tried so many times to get the words right, but now...now he knew what to do. He knew what she wanted....she wanted the truth, every secret his heart had kept over the years....and now he was going to give it to her. He took a deep breath, and began to write....
**
Dear Sindey.
Heh, funny how people always put 'dear' at the start of a letter, isn't it? Even if the person is a complete stranger, they still call them 'dear'. But you...you ARE dear to me, that's probably the biggest reason I'm doing this. Before you vanished down the Morlock tunnels, leaving me again, you asked for one simple thing. The truth, and as hard as it is to open up, and tell you all of this...you deserve it. Your life has been nothing but struggle this past year or so, I have no doubt I'm partly to blame for it. So here I am, telling you the only way I can. I'll tell you my story, Sidney, I'll tell you it all. As you know, I was born in Brooklyn. My father, a rich and prosperous inheiritee from my gandfather who had come to the states to run his 'empire', and my mother, a wonderfull Itallian woman who was rich in different ways....
**
"I can't wait Mamma!"
"Well, you'll have to, Nonna will be here when you get up in the morning, I promise".
Of course, I didn't want to wait, I was three, and I was excited by the prospect of my grandmother coming to visit for Thanksgiving. My mother chuckled, nuzzling me softly and picking me up, depositing me in my bed and tucking me in.
"I wonder if she's brought me a present?", I said hopefully, like all toddlers, presents had worth back then, they weren't just something you felt you had to get to look good.
"You'll have to wait and see, in the morning", Ma said, kissing me softly on the head, "goodnight, Morty, go to sleep"
"Okay Mamma", I replied, my eyes closing, as I drifted off to sleep, I could just about here the sound of my mother leaving the room.
I loved that woman with all my heart. Lucy Tolensky had come to America with her parents, my grandparents, Rosetta and Todd Tolensky. It was their dream to set up a small Italian resteraunt in Little Italy, New York. My grandfather, who's name I now share unfortunately died before I was born, but I heard he was a good, honest man, who had a strange love for collecting ceramic gophers. My mother met and fell in love with an elligable buisnessman and multi-millionare, Daniel Toynbee. His fortune had come from my grandfather, who had moved to America from England, bringing with him some Scottish friends and had built the company from scratch. His company funded up and coming buisness and gave them marketing advice and the like. They married within a few months of knowing each other....it wasn't until I was born, my fathers true nature began to show.
I was jarred out of the pleasant dreams of a toddler by the banging of the front door, announcing my father had returned home. I knew I should have stayed in bed, but I was curious....maybe a whole lot of who I am today might have changed if I hadn't crept downstairs. I hid myself behind a door, watching as my father entered the living room, fear evident on my mothers face. I listened while they talked about the buisness, then jumped when my Ma told Dad to check in on me. I shouldn't have had to fear, he would never come to say goodnight, instead, he just shuddered. I'll never forget his reply.
"What have i said about calling that...that...THING my son?", he said.
That hurt. I closed my eyes, listening to them argue about me, then my father said something that hurt me more than anything before.
"He's going to an orphanage in the morning".
"No!", my mother shouted, "you can't take my child away from me!".
I intook a breath when my mother slapped him across the face, then backed away as if she had been scolded, babbling in fear. Dad screamed in rage, throwing a glass across the room, the sound of glass breaking and falling to the ground filling the room. I bit my lip as they argued more, as Ma said she wanted a divorce, she was taking me away from this place. Dad just laughed spitefully, asked her if she was going to make money by putting me in a freak show. I blinked in suprise when my mother spat on Dad's shoes, and swore at him in Italian. But my suprise turned quickly into terror, terror I had known too many times in such a short time of life, as my father threw my mother to the ground. My Ma was a brave soul, though and refused to back down. She stood her ground, not letting Dad scare her. That one time though....I really wish she had backed down. My father picked her up, shook her like a ragdoll and threw her against the wall. I'll never forget the sickening sound of bones breaking as she made contact, before falling to the ground with a thud. I crouched down behind the door as Dad picked up his coat and walked through it, not noticing me. I winced as he slammed the door shut. I waited a few moments, like a frightened forest animal, before slowly creeping into the living room, watching my mother painfully pull herself into a sitting position, wiping the blood from her face.
"Mamma?", I asked quietly.
"Hi honey", replied Ma, putting on a brave smile through the pain, "I thought you were asleep?".
"I heard shouting", I said, then added, as if I didn't know already, "did Daddy hit you again?".
I winced as my other started to sob quietly. I did the only thing I knew how then to comfort her, I gave her a hug.
"Don't cry mamma", I said, wiping the tears from her cheeks.
"I'm sorry sweetheart", she said with a sigh, running a hand through my dusty blonde hair, "listen...what do you say me and you get out of here huh?. Go out into the world?".
I would have liked that...no, I would have LOVED that.
"Away from daddy and all the fighting?", I asked, unable to hide the joy from my face.
"Yeah, away from all that", said Ma with a nod.
"But...how will we live?", I asked, cocking my head to the side in puzzlement, "I mean, we don't have that much money. And what if daddy comes after us?".
I didn't want that to happen, not ever.
"You ask too many questions", said Ma with a chuckle, "and don't you worry, we'll get by. Hey you'll get to go to a real neat school and I'll make sure you have the best education. You're pretty smart for a three year old you know?".
I chuckled.
"I know", I said, then frowned as doubt crept into my mind, "but..but what if the other kids don't like me...what if they tease me and call me names?".
I looked down at his webbed hands, turning them over and sighed. Ma narrowed her eyes and then smiled. She put her hand on my cheek and brought it up so I could face her. I'll never, not for one day, forget what she told me that day.
"Hey, if you can't be cool, be feared", she said, "don't let them push you around. Make them respect you, and they will".
I sighed and nodded.
"Yes mamma".
I looked up in shock as Ma started to have a coughing fit, wincing in pain once it subsided.
"Are you hurt mamma?", I asked, it was a stupid question..of course she was hurt.
"I'll be fine", lied my mother.
Even then, I knew it was a lie. She was coughing again...this time coughing up blood. I may have only been three, but I wasn't a fool.
"Mamma?", I asked again.
My mother looked at me, a strange seriousness in her eyes.
"Listen to me. I want you to get out of this hellhole as soon as you can", she said to me, "I don't want you to stay here any longer than you have to. I want you to promise me something".
I huddled close to her.
"Anything for you mamma", I replied, and I meant it.
"Promise me you won't grow up to be like your father. Don't treat people like punching bags, don't let greed get the better of you. I want you to grow up decent, not like him. Do you promise?".
"I promise", I replied, feeling stinging tears well up in my eyes.
"Good boy", she said quitely, then smiled, "you want to know something?".
"Uh huh", I replied, not able to say much, I was fighting back from crying, I didn't want her to see me cry, I had to be strong for her.
"I never liked the name you dad gave you".
"Neither do I. It sucks", I said, "it's a stupid name".
Yeah, it was. Who names their kid 'Mortimer'?. Isn't that bordering on child abuse?
"You know what I wanted to call you?", my mother asked, I noticed to my horror her eyes were becoming glazed
"What?".
"Todd", said Ma, "it was my father's name...your grandfather. I always liked it".
Ma gave me a gentle hug. How I wished I could give her my strength with that hug.
"I guess we don't get our own way in this house though", she said with a sigh, "I...I'm going to go to sleep for a little while now. When I wake up, we can leave, okay?".
"Okay mamma", I said, cuddling up to her.
Ma kissed me the forehead
"Goodnight Mortimer".
"Goodnight mamma".
I watched her close her eyes and drift off to sleep. My mother never woke again.
**
*Sniffs* Man, as if that wasn't hard enough writing it the first time around, doing it from Todd's POV was heartbreaking. I'm gonna go...drink some hot chocolate. Do review. Until next time...
By Todd Fan
Disclaimer: "English - Who needs that? I'm never going to England"
**
Here it is, the 7th instalment of the Sidney Chronicles, and finally we get to the Todd origin story. This fic is rated for it's darkness, you have been warned. For once, you can be a newcomer to the Chronicles, and probably still be able to understand most of this, it's a Prequel. Most of this is from Todd's POV, and is the shortest of my chronicles with only 7 chapters, but don't fear, the 8th cronicle will make up for it by being the biggest. ;)
**
Chapter 1 - A cross to bear
**
Dawn. A time for reflection, a time to look forward to the day ahead, a time to cleanse and be cleansed...a time to be honest. Todd Tolensky had been up way before dawn, looking out of his window of the Brotherhood of Bayville Boarding House. He gave one final sigh as the red line across the skyline grew bigger, heralding the arrival of the sun....and a new day. Todd turned from his window and sat down at the small desk in his bedroom. Next to him were piles of paper, and the wastepaper bin next to the desk was filled with scrunched up balls of paper. He'd tried so many times to get the words right, but now...now he knew what to do. He knew what she wanted....she wanted the truth, every secret his heart had kept over the years....and now he was going to give it to her. He took a deep breath, and began to write....
**
Dear Sindey.
Heh, funny how people always put 'dear' at the start of a letter, isn't it? Even if the person is a complete stranger, they still call them 'dear'. But you...you ARE dear to me, that's probably the biggest reason I'm doing this. Before you vanished down the Morlock tunnels, leaving me again, you asked for one simple thing. The truth, and as hard as it is to open up, and tell you all of this...you deserve it. Your life has been nothing but struggle this past year or so, I have no doubt I'm partly to blame for it. So here I am, telling you the only way I can. I'll tell you my story, Sidney, I'll tell you it all. As you know, I was born in Brooklyn. My father, a rich and prosperous inheiritee from my gandfather who had come to the states to run his 'empire', and my mother, a wonderfull Itallian woman who was rich in different ways....
**
"I can't wait Mamma!"
"Well, you'll have to, Nonna will be here when you get up in the morning, I promise".
Of course, I didn't want to wait, I was three, and I was excited by the prospect of my grandmother coming to visit for Thanksgiving. My mother chuckled, nuzzling me softly and picking me up, depositing me in my bed and tucking me in.
"I wonder if she's brought me a present?", I said hopefully, like all toddlers, presents had worth back then, they weren't just something you felt you had to get to look good.
"You'll have to wait and see, in the morning", Ma said, kissing me softly on the head, "goodnight, Morty, go to sleep"
"Okay Mamma", I replied, my eyes closing, as I drifted off to sleep, I could just about here the sound of my mother leaving the room.
I loved that woman with all my heart. Lucy Tolensky had come to America with her parents, my grandparents, Rosetta and Todd Tolensky. It was their dream to set up a small Italian resteraunt in Little Italy, New York. My grandfather, who's name I now share unfortunately died before I was born, but I heard he was a good, honest man, who had a strange love for collecting ceramic gophers. My mother met and fell in love with an elligable buisnessman and multi-millionare, Daniel Toynbee. His fortune had come from my grandfather, who had moved to America from England, bringing with him some Scottish friends and had built the company from scratch. His company funded up and coming buisness and gave them marketing advice and the like. They married within a few months of knowing each other....it wasn't until I was born, my fathers true nature began to show.
I was jarred out of the pleasant dreams of a toddler by the banging of the front door, announcing my father had returned home. I knew I should have stayed in bed, but I was curious....maybe a whole lot of who I am today might have changed if I hadn't crept downstairs. I hid myself behind a door, watching as my father entered the living room, fear evident on my mothers face. I listened while they talked about the buisness, then jumped when my Ma told Dad to check in on me. I shouldn't have had to fear, he would never come to say goodnight, instead, he just shuddered. I'll never forget his reply.
"What have i said about calling that...that...THING my son?", he said.
That hurt. I closed my eyes, listening to them argue about me, then my father said something that hurt me more than anything before.
"He's going to an orphanage in the morning".
"No!", my mother shouted, "you can't take my child away from me!".
I intook a breath when my mother slapped him across the face, then backed away as if she had been scolded, babbling in fear. Dad screamed in rage, throwing a glass across the room, the sound of glass breaking and falling to the ground filling the room. I bit my lip as they argued more, as Ma said she wanted a divorce, she was taking me away from this place. Dad just laughed spitefully, asked her if she was going to make money by putting me in a freak show. I blinked in suprise when my mother spat on Dad's shoes, and swore at him in Italian. But my suprise turned quickly into terror, terror I had known too many times in such a short time of life, as my father threw my mother to the ground. My Ma was a brave soul, though and refused to back down. She stood her ground, not letting Dad scare her. That one time though....I really wish she had backed down. My father picked her up, shook her like a ragdoll and threw her against the wall. I'll never forget the sickening sound of bones breaking as she made contact, before falling to the ground with a thud. I crouched down behind the door as Dad picked up his coat and walked through it, not noticing me. I winced as he slammed the door shut. I waited a few moments, like a frightened forest animal, before slowly creeping into the living room, watching my mother painfully pull herself into a sitting position, wiping the blood from her face.
"Mamma?", I asked quietly.
"Hi honey", replied Ma, putting on a brave smile through the pain, "I thought you were asleep?".
"I heard shouting", I said, then added, as if I didn't know already, "did Daddy hit you again?".
I winced as my other started to sob quietly. I did the only thing I knew how then to comfort her, I gave her a hug.
"Don't cry mamma", I said, wiping the tears from her cheeks.
"I'm sorry sweetheart", she said with a sigh, running a hand through my dusty blonde hair, "listen...what do you say me and you get out of here huh?. Go out into the world?".
I would have liked that...no, I would have LOVED that.
"Away from daddy and all the fighting?", I asked, unable to hide the joy from my face.
"Yeah, away from all that", said Ma with a nod.
"But...how will we live?", I asked, cocking my head to the side in puzzlement, "I mean, we don't have that much money. And what if daddy comes after us?".
I didn't want that to happen, not ever.
"You ask too many questions", said Ma with a chuckle, "and don't you worry, we'll get by. Hey you'll get to go to a real neat school and I'll make sure you have the best education. You're pretty smart for a three year old you know?".
I chuckled.
"I know", I said, then frowned as doubt crept into my mind, "but..but what if the other kids don't like me...what if they tease me and call me names?".
I looked down at his webbed hands, turning them over and sighed. Ma narrowed her eyes and then smiled. She put her hand on my cheek and brought it up so I could face her. I'll never, not for one day, forget what she told me that day.
"Hey, if you can't be cool, be feared", she said, "don't let them push you around. Make them respect you, and they will".
I sighed and nodded.
"Yes mamma".
I looked up in shock as Ma started to have a coughing fit, wincing in pain once it subsided.
"Are you hurt mamma?", I asked, it was a stupid question..of course she was hurt.
"I'll be fine", lied my mother.
Even then, I knew it was a lie. She was coughing again...this time coughing up blood. I may have only been three, but I wasn't a fool.
"Mamma?", I asked again.
My mother looked at me, a strange seriousness in her eyes.
"Listen to me. I want you to get out of this hellhole as soon as you can", she said to me, "I don't want you to stay here any longer than you have to. I want you to promise me something".
I huddled close to her.
"Anything for you mamma", I replied, and I meant it.
"Promise me you won't grow up to be like your father. Don't treat people like punching bags, don't let greed get the better of you. I want you to grow up decent, not like him. Do you promise?".
"I promise", I replied, feeling stinging tears well up in my eyes.
"Good boy", she said quitely, then smiled, "you want to know something?".
"Uh huh", I replied, not able to say much, I was fighting back from crying, I didn't want her to see me cry, I had to be strong for her.
"I never liked the name you dad gave you".
"Neither do I. It sucks", I said, "it's a stupid name".
Yeah, it was. Who names their kid 'Mortimer'?. Isn't that bordering on child abuse?
"You know what I wanted to call you?", my mother asked, I noticed to my horror her eyes were becoming glazed
"What?".
"Todd", said Ma, "it was my father's name...your grandfather. I always liked it".
Ma gave me a gentle hug. How I wished I could give her my strength with that hug.
"I guess we don't get our own way in this house though", she said with a sigh, "I...I'm going to go to sleep for a little while now. When I wake up, we can leave, okay?".
"Okay mamma", I said, cuddling up to her.
Ma kissed me the forehead
"Goodnight Mortimer".
"Goodnight mamma".
I watched her close her eyes and drift off to sleep. My mother never woke again.
**
*Sniffs* Man, as if that wasn't hard enough writing it the first time around, doing it from Todd's POV was heartbreaking. I'm gonna go...drink some hot chocolate. Do review. Until next time...