Chapter 5:

"You'll never amount to anything."

"You can't expect to make it writing silly little stories about love and beauty."

"Don't you know how life works, boy? You have to grow up!"

"How can you be so naïve? Your fantasy life has got to end!"

"You'll end up wasting your life at the Moulin Rouge with a can-can dancer."

"Wasting your life!"

"Wasting your life!"

"You've wasted your life!"

There were no words for me to say. My throat would not allow a sound to escape. I could here my father's thundering voice all around me but I couldn't see him, couldn't see anything but darkness...

My fist slammed into the pavement and my eyes shot open. The metallic taste of blood coated the inside of my mouth. I spat the thick blood onto the pavement. A carriage pummeled through a puddle on the edge of the street, splashing last night's rain onto my back and face. I tried to pull myself up off the ground, struggling to gain balance. A wave of nausea passed through me and I clutched my stomach as I braced myself against the wall of the building next to me.

My father's voice had only been a dream. I could remember it so well, the words he had spoken to me just before I left him. I vowed never to return to him, no matter what happened. If I had listened, if I had followed his advice, I would have never fallen in love, never held the most spectacular being on earth. I would never regret a moment of my life.


A/N: I think I have figured out where to go from here. Shouldn't be too long before I update... Maybe this weekend. Thanks for the reviews!