Travel Through Time // a MPHFPC fanfiction

A new beginning

Ethel didn't know what time it was, but what she did know was that she couldn't go back.

After she... transformed, Ethel had run away from home. She ran as far as she could and soon noticed that running through the snow while being literally tiny was no fun at all.

At the moment she was at some nearby forest.

Soon Ethel had realised what she was, a cat. How could she become a CAT? She was a human, not some freaky halfbreed. Wasn't she?

Ethel was ashamed of herself. She just wanted to be normal, a completely normal girl. But she had to be this, a cat, instead.

No, Ethel couldn't go back. The look she expected her parents to wear when they saw what their daughter was... no, that wasn't bearable for Ethel. Her parents would surely love her nonetheless, but they'd be ashamed, ashamed of their own daughter. And therefore Ethel would always feel like a disappointment. Like a failure.

She would miss her parents dearly, but it was better that way. It was better to live like an outcast without her parents and James.

James.

Oh, James. What her brother would think of her? That she ran away? That she didn't want to be a part of the Barrinson family anymore? That she died? That she abandoned him?

A thick lump formed in her throat. It felt like she couldn't breathe anymore. She would never abandon her little brother, her Jamie. She loved him with all her heart. And now she would never see him again.

If she was a human, thick tears would have run over her cheeks leaving salty traces. She would have sobbed and collapsed. But as a cat the only thing that came out of her throat was a hurt "meow". It was loud and echoed as a scream through the forest. It was a mourn Ethel has never experienced before.

If she at least could have said goodbye.

But now her brother was all alone and didn't even know what happened. He would always hope that she would come back, he would be waiting for her like he always did when she was at the market and came home after a few hours. And now each time he heard the opening of a door, he would run hoping that it was her, his sister Ethel, but he would just be disappointed every time he saw that it was someone else. Then he could see the hope fading in his eyes.

And if he would at some point in his life accept that she wasn't there anymore, he would believe her dead.

And then nobody would wait for her anymore, nobody would hope for her. She would be dead to the world. Perhaps she wouldn't even be remembered anymore.

Just because she transformed into that god dammed cat.

Time passed and she still walked through the forest. It was colder now, the sunlight began to fade. It was already really dark and Ethel was, maybe for the first time in her live, truly afraid. Of the dark, of the future, but mostly of herself.

She was free now, had no responsibilities. She was a bird set free, with the exception that she was a cat.

Ethel laughed dryly. At least now she wouldn't be forced to marry against her will anymore. In fact she would probably never experience true love. How could someone love a monster like her? A cat-human freak?

She hated herself.

And as Ethel realised that, she could feel how her life fell completely apart. How she fell apart.

And that was probably the worst part of this all.

Hello once again!👋
Thanks for reading this story, I hope you like it. Sorry if my updates are rather rare, I'm a bit busy at the moment.
However, feel free to leave constructive feedback.
Have a wonderful day!