Cat N Mouse

The Bear

'As a mother. I always believed I did right by my child.  But as a human. I now know I was not..'

England. 1986.

Helen Oliver. Age 16, cradled her head in her arms as she listened to the screaming that erupted from both of her parents. This was her regular night,  ever since it was discovered that she had slept with her boyfriend Hugh. Her family felt nothing but shame from her, she was the black sheep.

Growing up in a strict religious family,  it was against their ways to have intercourse before you marry. But she did not think about the consequences of what she'd done. She just felt the love for her boyfriend , but that did not matter to her family. The screams soon came to a halt and the sound of steps banging up the door caused her to hide her ears.

'Slam'

Came the sound. Helen looked up to see her father , rage still on his face from the red and the crease lines on his eyes.

"Get up. Now. Pack, you're not staying here.  Not in sin."

He spat at her. She crawled to him, grabbing his leg and begging her father not to send her away. But he heard none of it, booted her away and grabbed her by the hair..

"If it were not for the will of our good lord. I'd have you dead. But grace has shone on you. You will go live in the nunnery. Maybe there you will find redemption."

He sneered as though he just touched the filthiest cloth in his life. To him, she may as well be.

Helen watched as she was driven far away from the only love and life that she'd ever known. All this, because she'd wanted to be with a man she truly had loved. She felt a tear slip down her cheek.

They must have driven an hour or so before the car halted suddenly, she was startled awake by the sudden jolt. Her side of the door was ripped open and her father dragged her out.

"Father ? What is going on? Where is the nunnery?"

She asked but was not answered. Instead he just dumped all of her belongings onto the floor and gave her one last nasty glare.

"You will never come back. You are as of today. Dead. You died.  I do not have a whore for a child. You do not ever show your face again. If you do so. I will not hesitate in killing you. This is my last kindness to you. Rot ."

With that he hopped in the car, and left her alone. Helen sat in the mud, scared,  cold and alone. She had just been abandoned at the age of 16.

'What should I do? I don't know how to live on my own. I don't know how to cook..what ..what do I do?'

She sobbed into her hands

After wallowing in her pity, she pushed herself up and began to walk, to where she didn't know. But she knew that she couldn't stay there , so she walked and she walked and she walked until her legs buckled under her.

When she woke up, she was in a bed with a blanket around her. She tried to push her body up but she was stopped.

"Now now love , it's OK.  You're safe here. I promise. Lord be blessed."

Said an elderly woman. Helen looked around,  she was in a small looking cabin it had appeared , but why? Why did they take her in.

"I should leave. I'm not welcome here . I need to-"

The woman pushed her down again.

"What you need to do.  Is ease , I know not of your situation but what I do know is that , if you stay out in that cold. You'll die. I wish that not on my hands."

The woman stated sternly.  Helen nodded. Albeit , begrudgingly.  She lay her head down and relaxed.

And that was her life after that. She stayed with said older woman for the next 2 years before she was able to find her own legs. In that womans home she learned what kindness truly was, to show love without judgment and more importantly,  she seen that you don't have to live life based on one bias.

The elderly woman was a retired teacher , she'd gone through many a trial in her years and also had lost her own child due to her faith and hostile nature. She had vowed that given the chance, she'd never harm another child in the same way that she'd done her own daughter. 

'You're my miracle child.'

Was what the woman would often call her. Her name was Cassandra. Helen had promised her that some day she'd make sure to have her own child named after her . For the second chance of life that she'd shown her.

Years later,  said child came to fruition in the form of a healthy little girl. Helen held her proudly in her arms and whispered.

"Welcome to the world. Cassandra Alice Oliver."

The day her daughter was born was one of the happiest day of her life  . She let nothing , not even her parents ruin it and try they had. But her life was better than it ever had been with them gone. The only things that mattered were her own family.  Her husband , her first child and now , her girl.

To her. Nothing could go wrong.

Until the death of her husband 16 years later.

When Christmas had rolled around and they all sat watching as Cassie and Harley opened their presents , while they squealed with delight her husband was hiding in their room, suffering and smiling.

The day of his death, was also the day that her older child left for good. She just couldn't take the pain any longer and left. Leaving just herself and Cassie alone.

And that was how the years would go. They'd have their animals. But they also had each other .

The day that Cassie ran into her room exclaiming how she'd made a friend and that he was from Paris, did cause her alarm. But in her head, it was just online . It wasn't anything real...

Right?

She'd always sworn that she would do right by her own child,  she'd never let her live the life that she'd had to live. So she did her best to be respectful of her private life . But how much more , could she go before things became too serious.  She knew that her child was not the most outgoing, nor did she excel with other social events. But she was beautiful, kind and loving. And that. Was all she'd ever wanted of her .

But that was until she'd learnt of the trip to Paris that they had planned . Helen did not feel right about this, and that was what she'd tried to explain to her child. She did not know this man, she hadn't even seen his face.  Until he'd proven that he was real, she would not be permitted to go, adult or not. There was excitement,  but then there was foolishness. 

Of course, this had caused some resentment from the lack of trust in her child. But she'd put her foot down, this was her final say. And to the man's supposed credit, he agreed to voice chat and sent them a video of himself. He then continued contact with her in the room, so after a week of this. She finally felt okay enough to agree to the trip for the two friends.

The look of sheer joy on her child's face made her sure that her choice was the right one. After all, with his older sister accompanying them, what did she have to fear?

For the time being, she just had to trust in her child and hope that she would make the correct choice, and not feel peer pressure. Because if she felt for a moment, this man who she's calling a friend was doing so. She'd be going to jail for a very,  very long time.

Taking a breath , the woman just grabbed herself some tea and proceeded to relax in front of the television.  She would make attempts to talk to her child tomorrow morning.