Perfect World

Prologue

Lula wasn't sure what it was about snow globes that usually had the girl's undivided attention, but they did. Especially her father's favorite one of a penguin wearing a red-and-white-striped scarf. She sat in his lap as he would quickly flip the snow globe over and let the powdery white stuff collect at the top before quickly inverting it.

"A perfect world." Was how her father referred to it when she questioned the existence of the black-and-white animal all alone inside. The penguin couldn't feel any sadness, couldn't feel any pain, couldn't feel alone. All because he was in his own little bubble of perfection.

And that's what Lula had. She had gone to school before; fully for both nursery and reception but only part of year one. Because then the other kids bullying had gotten out of hand. It was fine at first. Everything had been fine until Tommy Wilbur, the boy who stood behind her in line, yanked as hard as he could on her braid, and then the window next to them shattered. Tommy had gotten hurt as Lula stood in a circle cleared of glass. That's when the name-calling started, Wicked Witch. This was fine with Lula too because Princesses were overrated and a story could never take place without the deeds of the determined villain.

When it was clear that didn't work, they tried isolating Lula. Which was also fine by her, she preferred to read than play dolls; to sit and watch rather than play chase with the other, and she most definitely preferred to stay home with her father rather than go stay at some random person's house.

Then the violence came... small things at first. They bumped into her and made her fall. She got cool band-aids to put over her scrapes though. Then they would pull her chair from her when she tried to sit. She only fell for that one once before she started sitting on her desk instead. She loved sitting crisscrossed on her desk more than that uncomfortable chair anyways, even if the teacher got mad at her the first time. Lula supposed she noticed what the other kids were doing, but since Lula never went to her, she never went to Lula.

The day it escalated, she had brought one of her snow globes to class for show and tell. She was excited as it had been her newest one. Her father had gotten it for her the previous week on September 23rd, the Autumn Equinox. It had three trees with orange, red, yellow, and brown leaves and a bridge on the orange grass. She loved it. It was the first one that didn't have snow but had little glitter leaves instead.

But at recess, Tommy Wilbur took it. She yelled at him to give it back and lunged at him. He dropped it and it broke when he fell backward, clearly afraid of the little girl. She had cried and when she went to hit him, he grabbed a piece of glass on the ground and cut from the little girl's wrist to her palm. Kids started screaming at the sight of the blood. Tommy had actually run to get help, but the screams already had the teachers outside instantly.

Lula had to go to the hospital. There would forever be a scar. She told her mother she didn't want to go back to school. Her livid mother told her she didn't have to. Her father agreed to quit his job as a construction worker and be a stay at home father. Her mother was a very successful lawyer and so she continued to work.

Her best friend became her father. They learned together, taught each other, laughed together. He was the one to pick her up when she fell. Hold her hand when she got scared. He was the first person she saw when she woke up and the last person she saw when going to sleep.

She lived in her own perfect world. Her obsession grew over the years. Every year, for the next five years, her father would get her a new snow globe every season... until there wasn't anyone to give her new snow globes.

Well... her mother had tried, but Lula didn't want them. Lula wanted the man who started the tradition. The first night after her father's death, Lula cried in her room. She took every snow globe and smashed them. All except for the penguin with the red-and-white scarf. She cried and clutched him to her chest.