𝐁𝐎𝐘𝐈𝐒𝐇// 𝐄𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐄 𝐌𝐔𝐍𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐗𝐎𝐂

𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐯. ✭ 𝐖𝐄'𝐋𝐋 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐗

NOVEMBER, 1976; CHANCE

"I don't wanna hear your stupid ass voice!" Mama roared, raising her beer up before throwing it on the floor of our trailer. The bottle smashed into a million pieces. Brown glass littered the floor.

"What are you doing?" Daddy assuaged the sides of his temples, burying his head in his head. "What the fuck are you doing, Misty?" Standing in the doorway as quiet as a mouse, my little body froze up watching them fight. They had iced me into place. "Do you like this? Do you like doing this to us? To our family?! Huh?!" His voice cracked, splintering just like the shards spread around our kitchen.

The teddy bear I clutched tight to my body didn't soothe the hurricane of unidentifiable emotions I had swirling in my body. The fuzzy material pressed against my skin was nothing but fuzzy material. I needed more than a stuffed animal in order to find comfort.

Mama and Daddy continued shouting back and forth, their voices guttural and harsh against my sensitive ears. As they moved their fight into the bedroom, I took the opportunity to escape, stealing out the front door.

That was the first time I ran to the back of my trailer, my nightgown fluttering in the November winds. I needed to get away. I couldn't be around it all. The fighting. The throwing. The yelling. All I wanted was to feel safe. I needed warmth and comfort.

Determined to get in, I crept along the side of Eddie's trailer. His window was so high. Especially when you're nothing but a tiny child. Nearly everything was gigantic. The distance was astronomically larger than in actual comparison.

All I really needed was a boost of height to reach his window. Searching through the back fields, I combed through the dehydrated grain that had gotten crunchy from autumn. Moments later I returned triumphant to the window, lugging a crate I had found turned on its side.

The crate was set below the long pane of glass. I stepped onto it, wobbling as I grasped onto the window. My fingers nimbly worked at the latch, flipping it up. These were the days when Eddie didn't have those sheets draped over his windows. There was nothing to block my sight of him. He saw me alright.

That little boy shot up in his bed when he heard my fist rapping against the thick mucky glass. He had been near sleep, his eyes slits but they widened when I tugged his window open. Eddie rolled off of his mattress, dressed in a shirt with a fishing logo printed on it and flannel pajama pants that just about drowned him. He hurried over to the window, grabbing under my arms to pull me inside.

"Chancie, what are you doing here? It's nighttime!" He hissed out, shutting the window before any loose leaves could whoosh their way inside. Striding right by him, I threw myself onto his bed and spread myself out.

"I came to see you, Dummy." Pushing myself up to sit, I grabbed the roomy T-shirt Wayne handed down to him. I wrestled with the cloth, pulling him onto the bed beside me. "Alright, come on. Let's go to bed!" The orders that rushed out of me raised his suspicion. He stayed still as I pulled his covers over myself, his sweet brown eyes sharpening. "Come on, Eds. It's okay. Just go to sleep."

"You know you have your own bed..." He raised a brow, probably trying to gage what the hell was wrong with me. "A lot nicer too." His arms folded over his chest, creating a series of wrinkles across his shirt. "Whatcha coming over here for?"

"Don't you know?" I clutched onto him, faking my fright. "Mines filled with nightmares! I see 'em every time I close my eyes! I can see 'em when I'm wide awake too. I see him...the Big Bad! He's always crawling around, looking at me, and he's getting hungry...he wants to chomp me up!"