Buena Mano Book 1 (Unedited/Unrevised)

I'm O-Ok... Chapter 9: Crossroads

Chapter 9: Crossroads

The time came when Clarisse and I had a child. She was a beautiful young girl. Almost looking like a doll in some ways because she was absolutely perfect.

I loved her and I loved her mother very much. Still, my heart yearns for the love that was lost to me. In so doing, I fell into a downward spiral into lust. Hoping it would rid of me of this incessant pain my princess has caused me.

She wasn't the first baby to be born with my seed.

They were dolls. In my head they were dolls. My reputation as a lead vocalist gave me the venom to poison every woman I meet. With a sly tongue, I blinded them with false words and desecrate them with my lies.

Clarisse never found out... Or she deluded herself into thinking that she was my only pet. Almost all of them had the names of my dolls from before but... One name still eluded me...

They all looked much like their doll counter parts. Clarisse, Rachel, Lucilla, Olga, Maria, Theresa, Aurora, Bianca, Leonore, Magda, Serrena... Everyone of them... But still I couldn't find a replacement for my princess...

A few of them had my offspring; every single one of them had a beautiful baby girl and named them after their own.

Almost all of them...

When we had our baby, Clarisse often spoke of dreaming about a specific doll. A doll that I remembered all too well.

I showed her the crumbling husk of the once beautiful doll she said: "Yes, that is the one... But she looked more beautiful in my dreams than this one..."

I was startled at first but cried tears of joy when she had said that. For a very long time, my princess game me a sign. That's why I couldn't find a replacement for her.

That's why I couldn't let go of my feelings for her. I was empty without her. But now...

We named the baby after my princess. Clarisse was very happy looking at the child. Always joking on how she got her mother's features. But as I looked at the infant, I could only see one thing...

My princess...

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She turned out to be perfect in every way. Every time I saw her, there was a light flickering in the darkness of my soul. I didn't know she was had darkness in her but still I loved her...

She was a fleeting reminder of what used to be my heart and devotion. My master... My princess...

As the years grew on I couldn't conceal the sins I have buried beneath the depths of my heart... The girls were starved of their father's love so much... One of them even came to the old house to convince me to come back home...

I declined.

She cried a river's worth of sadness as my sweet darling Olga, now about eight years old, held my feet... Begging me to come home...

I shoved her away... Never realizing Clarisse and our daughter was watching ever so intently at the scene playing out in the midst of their afternoon siesta.

My princess bolted toward me and hugged me saying. "You're mine daddy... You never belonged to anyone else..."

I shed a tear for the words she said. She was, in every way, like my beloved... But still... Am I so heartless to leave my dolls behind?

Now that I have the means to protect them, why do I falter at my princess's voice?

.... I was her doll... Nothing more...