Seraphina waved her mother goodbye as she boarded her bus to school. She sat at the back and took out the diary, hiding it behind her bag as she balanced it upright.
Pg.4
Dear Diary,
Mother just went out to party in a pub thirty minutes away from our small cottage.
Me and my father both knew how this was going to end. My mother would come back home, at the dead of night, staggering in, drunk beyond the limit, with a bottle of liquor in her hands and then...
She'll become a beast.
My father always told me that he will get us out of here one day, that he will save us from this hell hole and I guess today was his chance, our chance.
"Wassup Raphi?"
Startled, Seraphina closed the diary in a hurry and slipped it back into her bag.
"I'm good, bro. How comes you're here?"
"My car broke down, I sent it to get it repaired. So now I need to take the damned bus," spoke Seraphina's brother with irritation.
"Oh?! Will you get to the company in time, Shawn?"
"Well, I calculated that I should be able to get there if there is no more than 10 minutes of traffic but I'll probably be able to leg it in if it is 11 minutes of traffic otherwise I'll lose my job and let's hope it takes me less than a month to find another one otherwise I think we'll have to take up Mama's offer to live in the countryside," replied Shawn, as he swept his brown locks back from his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, you don't need to rub it in my face that you're a maths genius," spoke Seraphina, sarcastically.
"Shut up!"
Seraphina rolled her eyes and took out the diary.
"Didn't Mama tell you to stop reading that until your exams are finished?"
"And when have I ever listened to her?" replied Seraphina, as she looked at the next page.
Pg.5
Dear Diary,
Oh how wrong father was!
Mother got home earlier than expected.
It was like she already knew because she wasn't that drunk.
"Oh right, I forgot that you were in your rebel era. By the way, how are you reading that?" asked Shawn as he leaned in, trying to decifer the scribbles on the tea stained page.
"With my eyes."
We were packing, we had everything ready, we were just about to go out, when...
Mother burst through the front door.
Couldn't she come like, 2 minutes later.
We tried hiding our packed items but failed miserably, it was of no use. Our efforts went down the drain and now we sat on the floor staring up at Mother, defeated, as she glared down at us with her beady eyes, filled with anger.
We angered her.
And that was a big mistake.
"Seraphina?"
She stalked to us, a wooden spoon in her hands. She locked every door and every window. She closed every curtain and blowed out every candle...except for the fire in her room.
She threw us into the basement, with our stuff, after giving us a tight slap with the wooden spoon, locking the door with a bang as the darkness enfulged us. My father moved the table, revealing the hidden treasure. The only light which shone now was through a hole, a hole which my father had cracked through the last time we were here...which wasn't that long ago.
"Seraphina?"
By now, we were freezing. Mother had left us to fend for ourselves.
Father opened the bundle of clothes we made and draped the both of us with them, hoping that it would be enough to help keep us warm for the night.
My father embraced me.
'One day, we'll live a life where your Mother doesn't exist. You've endured lots, Seraphina, we'll get out of here soon just...bear with me.'
"Oh hello? Earth to Seraphina?"
"What?!" snapped Seraphina, as she turned sharply to her brother.
If glares could kill, he'd be dead by now.
"Your stop is next, stop reading and get your arse up," replied Shawn, as he pressed the stop button for her, a ding coming straight after.
YOU ARE READING
Dear Diary: In Fire, and in Blood, and in Anguish | On Hold
Mystery / Thriller"Mama, whose book is this?" ~~~ When Seraphina finds an ancient diary at the back of her attic, she equires her mum about it and finds out that it belonged to her great-great-grandmother, the one whom she was named after. Excited to unfold every sec...
