Sultry air drifted through an open window, making the uncomfortable child squirm within her sheets. Soft, cool cotton could not sooth the scorching heat of the unbearable summer night. The small child of seven years old lay as still as she could, trying to get the air to cool her off. It wasn’t just the air, however, that kept her awake… Her mother and fathers spiteful words were also to blame.
Oh yes, they were at it again… Foul expletives rung in her ears as her parents fought with each other once more. It seemed as though this had happened every night since she was born. Mind you, she did not understand what all the words meant; she simply knew that they were harmful words her mother instructed her never to use. She distinctly remembered a time when she was a mere child of two and half, nearly three. Her mothers laughing never left her mind.
Since the beginning of her life, her parents fought over her, about her, and every single day, sometimes five minutes or less within each other, she would hear this certain word that struck her interest. At the time, she only knew that this particular word started with what was called ‘the letter D’ She remembered thinking that her parents must have liked the word, and thought it was fun to say… so she would try it. The fighting had stopped... and for one distinct moment… they laughed. Her parents laughed with her, smiled with her, giggled wildly and held her close, but the happiness didn’t last too long.
“She gets it from you…” her father stated in a soft voice.
“I do believe you are wrong… raven gets it from you. After all you are the one with the foul language.” Her mother shot back.
“So this is entirely my fault, is it? You think I am the one to blame for our child speaking? Raven is a smart young girl, whom, unlike you, stays quiet for more then five minutes! It certainly isn’t my fault she uses that word. I blame you.”
“Oh you would do that, wouldn’t you? You would blame it on me, when clearly you are the one who tends to use that word more often then once within a minute.
She remembered those words being hurtful… and she vowed that she would never, ever, fight with her spouse the way her parents fought. Albeit she was only two and a half, nearly three depending on how you look at it, but she was a very smart child. She knew quite well of her surroundings, and she had a large perspective that parents, such as hers, fought more than normal people
Intricate memories echoed within the contents of her hallowed young mind. Ravens shallow thoughts would have continued to progress into an elaborate, imaginative story that proved how she wished her live would have been, but the silence had been shattered like glass as an ear splitting scream echoed within her ears. The small child crept from her bed and slowly meandered to the door, trying her best to be silent. Whence she was in the hallway, she could hear her fathers’ harsh words, her mothers screaming, and stomach knotting noises that made Raven sick.
“Louis, please stop this! You’re drunk! I did not mean to anger you tonight, I honestly did not!”
“Cease your pitiful crying! I do not know what sins you have committed, nor do I want to hear you tedious recitations. Im not your priest... I am not your husband, either… I am your murderer…"
Ravens mother, Emmeline, tried her hardest to flee from the most dangerous predicament alive, but she had that gut feeling she wouldn’t. The young seven year old stood helplessly behind the door, watching as her mother fell to the ground on her knees, pleading for her life not to end that that single abrupt moment. Father, however, would not acknowledge it.
“Why must all humans be so pitiful…? Life is so short… and I am afraid, my dearest Emmeline, that yours has just gotten shorter. I am through with you… you have given me hell time and time again, and I shall stand for it no more! No more whining, no more tears… No more little Miss Emmeline…” The tall man shrouded by shadows who took the name of ‘Louis’, Grabbed Emmeline by the small fringe of hair that hung over her right eye, and gripped it tightly. “No more…” He said ever so quietly, so much so that the only way it were to be made out was by the form of his lips.
