Sméagol's Redeption

Chapter 15

Just then, Sméagol and Damian returned with two buckets of fish.

"Boy," said Damian, "Sméagol is the best fisherman I've ever known."

"You two caught a lot of fish, didn't you?" said Bri.

Damian laughed. "Actually, Sméagol caught most of them."

"Wow, way to go, Sméagol!"

"So, what are you gonna do with the fish?" asked Lea.

"I'm gonna keep a bucket, and give the other to him."

"You wanna run home, and drop off the fish?" Bri suggested. "Lea and I wanna talk to Sméagol for a few minutes."

"I'll go with you, so we can drop our fish off, too," said Aini.

"Sure," said Damian. "We'll be back in a few minutes, guys."

Aini helped Damian carry the fish buckets to the truck, and they drove off.

Sméagol turned to Bri and Lea, who both had very serious expressions on their faces. "What?" he asked.

"We know, Sméagol," said Bri.

"You knows? You knows what?"

"Aini told us everything," said Lea, "about the ring, Gollum, everything that happened, all of it."

"Oh." Sméagol suddenly felt very nervous. He turned his head, fearing that he may have lost his new friends.

"Hey." Before he could walk away, Bri took his hand. "Don't go. It's okay, Sméagol. We're not mad."

"You don't hates us?"

"No," said Lea. "We get it. You had no control over what happened. I know what that's like. Not to your extreme, but I do know how it feels to have little control over something."

"And, I know how it feels to be so consumed in addiction that it's all you know, and how hard it is to fight it."

"Some of my Autistic behaviors have caused some crap in my life. The thing is, though, I have so little control over them."

"What are they, Precious?" asked Sméagol.

"Well... I'm super sensitive, for one. I get my feelings hurt very easily. That's always been a huge problem in relationships, because people get so mad at me for it. I don't pick up on social cues very well. Like, for example, I can't always tell when someone's just joking. I get upset at what they say, because I think they're serious. Not being able to see their facial expressions makes it even harder."

"She's also visually impaired," added Bri.

"Yeah. And, I also have shutdowns and meltdowns, and my meltdowns are pretty ugly. When I have a shutdown, my thoughts and feelings implode within me, and I can barely move or speak. My body feels like it weighs a thousand pounds, and since my thoughts and feelings are all over the place, I can't tell you what's bothering me, until I sort through, you know, all my thoughts and feelings. If someone tries to press me for information, I get really snappy and bitchy. When I have a meltdown, it's more outward, because all my thoughts and feelings explode. I can't form coherent sentences, or tell you what's bothering me. Again, I have to take my time before I can explain what's wrong. People have gotten mad at me for that stuff, too, and they've also given me hell about my sensory issues. I've had people blow me off or ditch me, because they don't wanna look after me, since I can't do certain things by myself, because of not being able to see well enough. I've had so many people turn on me, because of all my issues, lost so many friends and relationships, and got bullied heavily for it."