INTERIM · BEN PARISH | ✓

SNEAK PEEKS OMG

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG SO I'M DIGGING OUT A SNEAK PEEK I'D WRITTEN SOON AFTER I FINISHED THE FIRST EPILOGUE I CAN'T WAIT TO SHOW YOU GUYS LMK IF YOU WANT A COUPLE MORE POSSIBLE SNEAK PEEKS BECAUSE THERE'S A CHANCE FOR A SEQUEL I JUST NEED A BIT OF FEEDBACK LOL OOPS BUT SERIOUSLY URGH I WANT A SEQUEL BUT I'M JUST SCARED IT WON'T BE AS GOOD AS THE FIRST EFJAKLSJEHBFGKDJA I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOY AND LET ME KNOW HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT A SEQUEL TO INTERIM LMK WHETHER IT SHOULD BE IN THE SAME BOOK OF SEPARATELY K BYE ENJOY

IT'S KINDA SHORT THOUGH BUT IT'S BECAUSE I LEFT IT JUST AS I'D FOUND IT AND I DON'T WANNA ADD ANYTHING YET!

PS THIS SNEAK PEEK DOES NOT REPRESENT MY VIEWS ON THE VARIETY OF RELIGIONS WHATSOEVER !! PLEASE DON'T HURT ME :(

•••

THE GARDEN IS beautiful. The trees and flowers thrive, the grass grows green, and the soil is fertile. It's just like a dream.

The girl is wondering why her parents would rather sing and say prayers inside a church instead of the outside, where nature is the one that gave them life instead of one omniscient and omnipotent higher being.

She is angered at her parents' defiance and their ignorance. She wishes she had a place to belong to.

"Come on, Mass won't wait for us, you know," her mother says, doting on her as always. "The good Lord will come to you, and He will guide you to the path you belong in. The real path. Not this old.. nature worship."

She clenches her fists but follows them to the car.

All throughout Mass her heart and mind is set on that beautiful garden. The earth that gives her life, not a God that chooses who gets to live.

Once they're done, they genuflect, make the sign of the cross, then repeat the sign of the cross again after dipping their fingers in the holy water at the doors.

"You should join the Youth Ministry here!" her mother suggests.

"I don't want to."

"Why not? Because you'd rather stay in a garden and worship... animals and trees?"

"No," she says defiantly, and crosses her arms over her chest.

"Your daughter is being bratty again, would you do something dear, please? You know she only listens to you."

"Because he listens to me," she snaps.

"Look, honey," her father begins. "You stay under our roof, you are Catholic. Outside when you move out, you are free to explore your religion. Deal?"

"I can't wait until I'm 18," says the girl while on the way back.

They leave the car and head inside, but she runs to the back. "I know the gods understand my frustration, why I must not disobey my parents.

"But no matter how hard I try to listen to them, my heart beats for something else. They don't understand anything! Help me survive another four years, please!" 

The winds blow, and that's it.

And she's staring right at me with anger flashing in her eyes. "I HATE-"

And her head snaps back. She falls to the ground. I don't get a chance to scream.

Her name was Wren.

I should have saved her. I shouldn't have- I could have just shut my mouth and listened to her. I could have gone back to save them. All of them.

But because of my selfishness, only Dot, Scarecrow, Musket and I managed to survive. Even with that, Dot isn't really alive anymore. He's subjected to the one kind we've hated the most.

Musket is here. He glares with the same glint in his eyes. "You're the reason she's gone.

"I loved her. I loved all of us. And now look at you. You couldn't even die properly." How did he know I let Stiletto die?

I have no voice here. I can't speak my mind, tell him how sorry I am, wish I could change things, tell him that it's no one's fault, that it happened all for a reason.

He won't listen to me even if I get my voice back somehow. I can barely move; my entire body aches. Honestly, am I having a dream or is this a trial in Purgatory? I'm pretty sure I took a white pill that ended my life, right?

Unless..

Oh no.

"What's wrong, cat got your tongue, Red?" he sneers. "You know everything is your fault, yet you're still here when you could have just left us all where we were."

He said I couldn't even die properly.

What did he mean by that? I took the white pill.

Wait.

Sleeping pills.

Goddammit.