It's been 5 years since Grand Em has become the breeding ground for the mental disease called 'The Wolf'. And in those same 5 years, Agar has watched her beloved city and family fall to ruin. Her father who was once a respectable man of the people w...
Warning:There are mentions of violence and parental abuse within this chapter, please read on with caution.
"WHERE IS IT?! Don't you dare lie to me!" My father threw a slew of curses my way as he tore through our living room. Smashing trinkets and throwing chairs around in an attempt to find where I hid his ale while he was sleeping.
I had poured it out the night before after he broke down the front door getting in because he was too impatient for me to open it. I knew he was going to throw a tantrum after he'd woken up but I felt no regret for what I'd done.
Shrugging indifferently I sat in our last unbroken chair unbothered by his anger. I'd seen it all before.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Was the only words I had to offer prompting a screech in frustration from him as he tore through the room again, this time going for my mother's favorite glass vase.
He knew that destroying it would hurt me but he didn't care, all he cared about now was keeping the voices in his head to a minimum. And he needed his ale to do it.
I tensed up as the vase made contact with the wall fearing that the shards of glass would cut me from being too close. But thankfully the vase fell to the floor with a long clang and nothing more. I took in all the destroyed furniture and trinkets on the floor as he continued to rage. My eyes burned as I fought back tears watching my once loving and protective father have yet another breakdown this week. Was this all I had to look forward to? Just like the things on the floor would we forever remain broken?
Searing pain ripped through my chest as I looked up to see him slamming our only family portrait against the wall. The last portrait of my mother was now gone as glass shattered and flew everywhere. The picture inside ruined, just like our family. I hate my life. I hate it here.
The Wolf's satisfaction was almost tangible as he watched my father crumble into himself. Mumbling and raging about things only he could truly hear. He wept on the floor, calling out for help that no one could truly give, and eventually, after some time I caved. Going into the kitchen and I found the one bottle I'd hidden away for emergencies and gave it to him.
He finished the bottle quickly, praising me and telling me how I was such a good daughter for helping him before he fell asleep.
I checked to make sure that he was okay before throwing a blanket over him and started cleaning. Silent tears dropped but I paid no mind to them, crying never solved anything anyway.
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Story Scripture: Psalm 46:1
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Authors Note:
Even though these chapters are so short they take so long for me to write because I'm thinking so hard about what I want to convey. I've never experienced parental abuse but I wanted to showcase again her environment. And I also wanted to show how even our parents go through things like depression and brokenness. A lot of parent I think don't speak up enough about the mental trials we will face as we grow, or even mention the ones they are currently facing. And it's fair to an extent because parents are meant to carry the burden so that you don't have to, but in the same sentence parents are also called to teach in a way for their children to be prepared for what's to come or could come.
Now obviously this is more on the extreme end of things and within this fictional world there was nothing really like wolf so there was no real way to prepare in their case. But yeah now that I'm older I often think about how human my parents really are. And how they are living their life for the first time just as I am. And if you aren't following God and are not in relationship with Him, you're really just winging everything every moment of the day. And that's really hard because when you're living life outside of the reliance of the Lord the weight of the world is literally on your shoulders. Like everything in your world is reliant on you knowing enough, and doing enough, and choosing the right thing all the time, and that's exhausting. There's no real space for rest or peace when you live like that. And so there's obviously no space to really sit with yourself and evaluate what is up and what is down because everything is reliant on your constant need to respond to things.
But when you are relying on the Lord and trusting the Lord there's space for rest and peace because nothing really is reliant on you anymore but Him and his word and his promise and Him keeping his word. And that makes a literal world of difference in your day to day.
Thank you for reading. Please like, comment, and leave prayer request! Until next time.
