The Words That Hurt Me

Ten things I hate about myself

Mikey sat crying in a corner, head in knees, torn pieces of paper all around him. Pencils, crayons and a pair of safety scissors lay lifeless beside him.

Splinter came in frantically, glancing around the room. He relaxed, spotting Mikey, and came over to his son.

'Michelangelo! There you are,' He reaches forward, only for the young tot to shy away. 'Why do you cry, my son?'

The child doesn't answer, leaving Splinter to look around on his own. He picked up a scrap of paper, spotting his son's signature, half torn apart.

'Is this your art? Why is all cut up?' He gasped, tone turning angry, 'Did one of your brothers do this!?'

Mikey shook his head, face still buried in his knees. It was then, that his father spotted the scissors sitting close to his son.

'You did this to your art?' He reached for his son again, this time successfully pulling him into his lap. He gently wiped away his tears. 'But you've always been so proud, why cut it up?'

The tot sniffled, leaning into his father's touch.

'It was ugly,' he wiped his face, 'I can't make anything good!'

.

'Ten things I hate about myself

I hate not being able to focus

I hate that I'm annoying

I hate that I'm stupid

I hate that I'm childish

I hate that I'm weak

I hate how nobody takes me seriously

I hate being ignored

I hate the way I smile

I hate not saying smart things

I hate that I'm not good enough'

Mikey read over the list he made before he went to sleep last night, mind much clearer than it was last night. Of course,  in his delirium, it seemed he just wanted to write down what he didn't like about himself.

He set the paper aside and continued on with his morning, dressing and freshening up. He skipped to the kitchen, trying to recall what food they had in the pantry.

Boy, was he surprised when he saw Leo.

"Oh! Mikey? What are you doing up so early?" Leo asked, pouring himself some tea.

"I don't know..." He replied slowly, confusion prominent in his features.

It was almost 9:00 in the morning, a painfully early time for the nearly nocturnal mutants. While on a typical day of low crime and no missions, the boys are to go bed by midnight, though the only one who follows that is Leo.

So, Mikey, who likely fell asleep much later than that, was up at the same time as his 'training is fun' brother. His internal clock must off, that must be it. Why else would he be up so early?

"Well, I suppose it'd be too early to make breakfast, I think we're the only two awake," Leo said, gingerly sipping his tea.

"I was just about to start my morning training, wanna join?"

Mikey's face contorted into a pained expression for a breif moment, the immediate response of 'hell no' on the tip of his tongue, before he suddenly bit it back.

"Actually, I think I will."

His brother's eyes widened, nearly spitting out his tea. Mikey didn't expect his response either, but he figured this was a great opportunity.