1876 - 4 years old
"You can't leave us! What about your daughter?!" The little girl peaked around the corner, gazing at her arguing parents. "What kind of life would I be giving her if I stuck around?!" Her father was a rugged man, and he always stood by what he believed in.
She watched on with wide green eyes, biting her lip nervously. "A life with her father there for her!" Her mother, however, was an older woman, who would lay down her life for the people she loved.
Her father waved her mother off, turning away from her with a sigh. "I can't provide for you two if I can also get you killed!" The girl's eyes widened in shock, but she didn't run from her parents. "So you decide to take the easy way out and abandon us?!" her mother yelled, her voice loud.
The child flinched and backed away - she had never seen her mother that upset before. "You want to bring our four year old daughter out into the wilderness, with no idea how to survive?!" her father yelled back, just as angry.
"FINE!! Get the hell out of here - I don't ever want to see your face again!" Her mother's voice was shaking and wavering, and the girl heard her sniffle. It was silent after that for a few long moments, and the girl took another step back. "I...I'll send you - " Her mother angrily interrupted her father.
"I don't want anything from you! Just get your shit and get out!" The house fell silent once again, and this time she heard her father storm off towards the hallway she was hiding in.
He stopped when he laid his eyes on his trembling daughter, her eyes glassy. "Helen - " The little girl turned and ran from her father, entering her room and collapsing on her bed.
She had expected her father to chase after her, to tell her it was all going to be okay. The sound of the front door slamming and her mother letting out an angry scream told her otherwise, though.
Why did he leave? Her mother suddenly walked into Helen's room, her cheeks already stained with tears. "Oh, Helen...." The small bed dipped as her mother sat down, and she cradled her daughter in her arms. "It'll be okay, darling, you'll see," she whispered gently.
Helen didn't listen, though, for she was consumed by her own tears. "Wh...why d-did Daddy leave again...? Does...does he not l-love me?" she sobbed, clutching onto her mother.
It was silent for only a moment or two before her mother spoke again. "Your father is a bad man, Helen...and he's done very bad things. He...we would have gotten hurt because of him."
There was a pause, then a sharp intake of air. "But I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe - I promise, Helen."
YOU ARE READING
Family in Shambles
FanfictionShe had been going it alone for three years, since her mother had passed away. She had been learning to survive and doing what she NEEDED to do to survive, no matter the consequences. She knew how to lie low and hide from the law, and she became a v...
