My wounds healed over time,though my left arm never was quite the same. Charles visited me everyday after school,along with his prissy mother Annette. I never trusted anyone of the outside world except for Charles,but we loved each other unconditionally so it seemed. He taught me all the school yard games,hide and seek,catch,tag,crack the whip...though it always turned more into ring 'round the rosies since two people can hardly make a proper whip.
Winters faded into Springs,we were growing up before we knew it. The boys who had beaten me were fast getting a reputation as no good,muscle-brained buffons. I was 8 when I walked in on a life-altering converstaion..at least,for me,it was.
"What do you mean with all this 'He' talk,Etienne?!"My soon to be stepmother,Melinda,snarled at my father. "You speak of Erik as if he were a god!" "A god?No,a demon Melinda. He acted as if He were from the pits of hell sometimes. He left only to torture Madeleine,so she would have nothing to remember Charles by!" I heard my father growl back. Well,normally,I wasn't one to listen at keyholes..but if it had something to do with my friend Charles..."Really Etienne.." Melinda sighed. "You should at least tell Pearl about Erik. She's mature beyond her years..she would understand. If you do not tell her soon..I will." Melinda's stern voice echoed in the room as I heard father sigh. What did this "Erik" have to do with me,and why did I seem to remember that name from somewhere? I knew well who Madeleine was,of course. She was my birth mother,who didn't care if I'd lived or died when I was a baby. I would call Melinda 'Mother' before I called Madeleine that!
"She'll know soon Melinda,my love. I just can't tell her when she's so happy. It's so rare for her.." Father trailed off,almost whispering as he spoke. When I heard them beginning to open the door I ran back outside to join Charles,telling him in a low voice all that I could. "Erik...that's a german name,isn't it?"He mumbled back,accepting the apple I had picked up on my way back from the kitchen,which had been when I'd come across the conversation. I shrugged,"I don't know..but Madeleine's name came up. Maybe he's an insane uncle who's madly rich?" I said with a small smile. Picturing a long list of relatives for 'Erik' was quite fun,though Charles and I dismissed the idea of stepfather or brother almost instantly. If I had a brother,I'd have known him by now,wouldn't I have?
My!How wrong we were!
Winters faded into Springs,we were growing up before we knew it. The boys who had beaten me were fast getting a reputation as no good,muscle-brained buffons. I was 8 when I walked in on a life-altering converstaion..at least,for me,it was.
"What do you mean with all this 'He' talk,Etienne?!"My soon to be stepmother,Melinda,snarled at my father. "You speak of Erik as if he were a god!" "A god?No,a demon Melinda. He acted as if He were from the pits of hell sometimes. He left only to torture Madeleine,so she would have nothing to remember Charles by!" I heard my father growl back. Well,normally,I wasn't one to listen at keyholes..but if it had something to do with my friend Charles..."Really Etienne.." Melinda sighed. "You should at least tell Pearl about Erik. She's mature beyond her years..she would understand. If you do not tell her soon..I will." Melinda's stern voice echoed in the room as I heard father sigh. What did this "Erik" have to do with me,and why did I seem to remember that name from somewhere? I knew well who Madeleine was,of course. She was my birth mother,who didn't care if I'd lived or died when I was a baby. I would call Melinda 'Mother' before I called Madeleine that!
"She'll know soon Melinda,my love. I just can't tell her when she's so happy. It's so rare for her.." Father trailed off,almost whispering as he spoke. When I heard them beginning to open the door I ran back outside to join Charles,telling him in a low voice all that I could. "Erik...that's a german name,isn't it?"He mumbled back,accepting the apple I had picked up on my way back from the kitchen,which had been when I'd come across the conversation. I shrugged,"I don't know..but Madeleine's name came up. Maybe he's an insane uncle who's madly rich?" I said with a small smile. Picturing a long list of relatives for 'Erik' was quite fun,though Charles and I dismissed the idea of stepfather or brother almost instantly. If I had a brother,I'd have known him by now,wouldn't I have?
My!How wrong we were!