Tommorow's People

Circle Of Safety

My eyes opened slowly. I was still here, it wasn't a dream, it was all real and my life was screwed. I stared at the ceiling for a while. I laid still and felt like I was dead inside.. This was a feeling I hadn't experienced before. I looked over and saw my arm, a symbol of my failure to escape. My arm really hurt and I had hoped it'd go away soon. It almost didn't seem worth it to try the first time or even to try again... a tear rolled down my face.

Two knocks came on the door.

"Hunny?" I heard my mother call. I quickly wiped away the tear.

"Yeah," I answered then she walked in.

"Come eat breakfast," she said. She looked... so happy. She had a glow I had never seen before. Ever part of my soul screamed NO.

"Okay Mom," I said on instinct. She nodded and stood there by the door waiting for me. "I'm coming," I said. Then she finally walked away. I rolled over careful of my broken arm. I really hopped I had the ability to heal quickly.. probably not though. My feet hit the carpet and I couldn't help but enjoy the feeling of it. The carpet wasn't hard or even rough on the skin, it was soft and left little feet impressions. Every home we live in had hard wood floors or cement covered up by carpet that was hard to walk on. Suddenly I found myself stalling. I deeply wanted to be down in the tunnels right about now. Far away from my delusional mother and murderous fa- I stopped myself mid thought. He was not my father and never would be.

I walked out of the room and followed the scent of bacon. I felt my foot transfer from carpet to tiles, I stopped walking. The kitchen was large, lots of counter space. When I stepped my next foot onto the tile everything changed. Suddenly I felt myself somewhere else, a different universe, somewhere foreign, where I was looking in from the outside. The room was flooded with light from the rising sun. My mother was sitting at a table with a cup of coffee, she had the sweetest smile on her face. This smile was faced towards Jed. He sat next to her the same smile she had. He held her one hand while the other sipped coffee. This scene was frozen, like a snapshot, a picture you saw in a magazine. Perfection in a specific moment. Then the moment ended. They both looked up to me and I felt myself freeze up.

"Chloe, I made you a plate," Jed said smirking a little. I looked to my mother as if I needed confirmation. I shook it off and brought myself to the table and sat down. I picked up a forked and dug into the eggs. The eggs were accompanied by bacon and toast with peanut butter...

"Peanut butter?" I questioned out loud.

"Oh! Are you allergic? Sorry I love peanut butter on my toast," Jed went to get up to take my plate.

"No! Uh. I love peanut butter on my toast too..." I cringed on the inside. I hated myself for a bit for having something in common with him.

Everything was quiet and the silence helped my silverware sound loud when it touched the plate. I tried my best to be quiet but struggled. I feared what would happen when I was done eating...

When I finished eating I just sat there awkwardly, waiting for help. Something anything to end the silence. I took a drink of orange juice

"I was thinking we could do something as a family. Like a puzzle, a movie night, something," Jed announced. I choked on the orange juice.

"Chloe!" My mother snapped. I continued to cough.

"No, it's okay. She feels how she feels. It's only been a couple days," Jed intervened, he took my mother by the hand and lulled her back into a state of love and bliss. Unintentionally my jaw dropped. Who is this guy?! I finally stopped coughing and grabbed my plate and cup and put them in the sink.

"Rise them," my mother said giving me a scary look.

"I got it," Jed intervened once again.
  Suddenly Jed was at my side, just as I turned the water on. He brushed up against me before k was able to run off and I got a scary feeling in my heart. I wanted to scream for him not to touch me, but I remained silent and went to my room. I closed the door and put my hands on my head as I paced the room. My breathing was hard and heavy. I went to the window and tugged on it with my unbroken arm. It was fruitless but in the moment I wanted to do SOMETHING.  I wanted to go somewhere. I felt like I had to go... NOW. School! I had that. I needed to go to that. I rushed out of my room.