Fairytale

Delilah

A young girl, the youngest yet to be shown to the Hawthorne family, lays on a park bench in the middle of the night. The big moon shines down on her, her nightlight. She's a cute little thing, a bit underweight and with dark circles under her big blue green eyes, but cute nonetheless.

Her dark brown hair falls just past her small breasts, pushed away from her face with a navy blue and white polka dot bandana she's folded and tied in a bow on top of her head like a headband. It's thick and a bit carefree even though it's mostly straight. A flyaway strand on occasion seems to want to curl up at the end.

She can't be any older than eighteen, but she still has a teenager's body that's mostly flat with minimal curves. It's actually part of her charm and fits her personality quite well. Delilah is a dreamer. She likes life much better when her eyes are closed. Reality is too bland and real.

She never got the chance to be a kid. Her mother left when she was only four, wanting to pursue the dreams she put off to have Delilah. Now Delilah only sees her mom on tv. She's a famous actress now, too big for small people like her husband and daughter.

Her father didn't take it so well. She's been cleaning up after him since then. He's a high functioning alcoholic who's able to hold up having a decent job at a car dealership. His colleagues even tell her he's a really good salesman. She heard a group of people at school one time say that salesmen are all manipulative and liars.

She believes it.

Her dad is a crook who would swindle a poor old woman out of her retirement if the opportunity presented itself.

He likes to drink first thing in the morning. He even carries a soup canteen full of vodka to work so he can sip on it throughout the day. By the time he gets home he's in a foul mood.

Which is how Delilah ends up on park benches at night. She learned early on that it's just better to rough it on the streets than to stay home and risk getting hurt. He never remembers anything he does anyways. He's just moody in the morning and likes to push her around a bit when she's in the way. She can deal with that. It's better than the other option.

Honestly, Delilah feels it could be worse. Though she does have a somewhat childlike disposition because of her childhood, or lack there of, she's come away from it all relatively unscathed. There's some kids at school that she knows have it worse. They come in all the time with wounds and bruises and these dead inside looks.

They have it worse in her books. So she should be thankful she can at least say that. Besides, it's not so bad out here. She gets to sleep under the stars. That's pretty cool.

She sighs sadly while staring at those very constellations. Her thin arms wrap tightly around the large stuffed sheep she still sleeps with. His butt is bigger than his neck because of how she's held him over the years and his white fleece is a little dingy, but Delilah wouldn't trade him for anything in the world.

Bah-dley is her only true friend. Her friends at school don't know her story like he does. Bah-dley has seen it all with his own eyes. Well, eye. Somehow he lost one a few months back. He keeps her company and gives her comfort on these nights out. He's not much, but she doesn't want much anyways.

She's content with how things are so long as she gets to close her eyes on occasion. That's the real treat. So rare nowadays it is for her to get more than two hours of sleep a night.

Delilah blinks up at the starry sky sleepily, in a mesmerized daze. She's always sleepy.

Her eyes close. Her breathes even.

Then she goes to the safe place in her mind where anything is possible.

•
•
•

Rustling startles her awake. She sits up abruptly, panting and looking around frantically for her attacker. Clinging to Bah-dley, she curls into herself so she's ready to run.

Her hair tosses about everywhere, her eyes wide and fearful. The dreamworld still fogs her mind.

Suddenly a squirrel scurries from the bushes and hurries up a nearby tree. She startled at first, a squeak leaving her lips. Once she realizes it's just a stupid squirrel she slouches with a heavy sigh.

With a groan she falls back on the bench. Her eyes blink slowly and heavily, sleep calling for her. But just like every night, she's now too jumpy and wired to go to sleep.

This is routine for Delilah. It's a scary world out there and she's exposed to it. Cursed to only get a few hours of sleep a night, she's often finds herself falling asleep in class or odd places. It's why she has detention tomorrow. It's why she'll probably have detention the day after that, and the one following that.

Hugging Bah-dley tightly to her chest, Delilah blinks at the bushes as if expecting something else to pop out.

She just wants to sleep.
That's all.
Just sleep.