Precious Miracles

Chapter 4

"Tells us about Emily, Precious," said Sméagol, "if it doesn't minds."

"No, I don't mind," I said. "Actually, it's nice to have someone to talk to about this."

Sméagol smiled at me.

"I met her when we were really little. I saw how nice she was to the other kids, and I really wanted to be her friend. Besides, the way she dressed was so cute. It almost made her even more special, if that makes any sense. I went over to her, and asked her if I could play with her. She said yes, and we became best friends right away. She was the sweetest and kindest person I'd ever known. We found out really quickly that we both shared a passion for music. We both loved to sing and write songs, so we started making music together." I sighed heavily. "She was the sister I never had but always wanted... and she was always there for me when I needed her... which was a lot. My dad was emotionally abusive toward me. He was always yelling at me for literally everything. Nothing I ever did was right in his eyes. I was too fat, too girly, too stupid, too lazy, you name it. No matter what I did, I could never please him. My mom was amazing, though. She loved me the way I was, but when she wasn't around, Dad would have his 'fun' with me. So, every weekend, I would sleep over at Emily's house, or if Mom went out of town, she would leave me with Emily and her parents. I always felt safe there. Em's parents were always nice to me, and Emily was even nicer. I told her everything Dad said to me..." I burst into tears as I spoke, "and she hugged me and told me that he was wrong... and that everything would be okay and that she loved me so much. She would sing songs for me, and she even sang me to sleep. She had the sweetest, most beautiful voice I'd ever heard. She sounded like a butterfly. Like, her voice was so soft and sweet and innocent, and she had this amazing hummingbird-like vibrato. Her singing always made me cry, but not in a sad way. I felt so loved and wanted every time she sang." I tried to stop crying, but the next part of my story was very painful, making it impossible not to cry. I swallowed a few times, but I couldn't contain my sobs. "When I was twelve, my mom got really sick and died, leaving me all alone with my abusive father, who only got worse after. He started drinking heavily, and became physically abusive toward me."

Sméagol's mouth dropped open in shock. "He hits you?"

"Yeah, he would hit me, slap me, punch me, throw me against the walls, all while screaming and swearing at me. Then, he died of alcohol poisoning when I was fifteen. That's when Emily and her parents took me in permanently. Emily wrote this beautiful song for me to comfort me, and she would sing it for me whenever I would cry over losing my mom or when I had flashbacks of my dad's abuse... and she would sing it to me every night before I fell asleep. She became more of a motherly figure to me. She was always doting on me as if I were her little baby, but she was always encouraging me and helping me heal from all my trauma. She was there for me when I got my first boyfriend, when he broke my heart, whenever I got sick with a cold or flu or whatever. She always spoiled me rotten with gifts she would make herself—drawings, fuzzy blankets, and even songs she would write for me. Some people actually thought we were a lesbian couple. We often joked that we were gonna get married someday."

Sméagol laughed softly.

"When we grew up, we moved out of her parents' house, and moved into a house of our own that her parents bought for us. We pursued music as a career together. We would sing at different places all over town. Then, at home, we would do the same things we always did as kids—just make more music together, and she would always love on me like crazy. She always gave the best hugs. Every time she hugged me, I literally felt like I was in the arms of an angel. I guess that's because I was. She gave me all sorts of cute petnames like 'Sweetie' and 'Baby' and 'Honey.' Her main nickname for me was 'Alliepoo.' I loved being called anything lovey-mushy sweet she called me. It made me feel loved."