The Land of Magic

The Letter

A gentle breeze blew the cool night air around the neighbourhood. Inside his house, Alex shivered, and sat in front of the fireplace. He had a letter in his hand, and was perplexed. The envelope had no return address on it. Who could've sent it to him? Curiously, he turned it over.

Right before he could open it, his father snatched it out of his hand. "You brat! Have you been digging through my mail!? Nobody would ever send a letter to a rat like you," his father shouted. Tears filled Alex's eyes. He knew it was true, he didn't have any friends. 

He ran to his room with tears flowing down his face. Laying in his bed, he hugged his knees. What has he ever done to deserve a life like this?  Whimpering, he heard a soft knock at his door. "Come in," he said. Tiffany, his sister, opened the door slightly and peeked inside. "Are you okay? I heard dad shouting." she asked. Alex replied, "I'm fine, just had dust in my eye." He rubbed the tears away. 

Tiffany gave him a skeptical look. "Okay then. I'm going to continue my homework." She left his room, softly closing the door. Alex sat on his bed and sniffed. "I don't want to deal with this pain anymore" he thought. He was done with all of it. The years of abuse from his father, his mother sudden death. She died when he was 7. Tiffany was only 2 then, and she didn't remember her mother at all. It had been 9 years since. 

Alex picked up a blade on the table. He stared at it, and hesitated. No," he thought "for Tiffany" . Maybe a shower would help, he decided. Taking off his shirt, he looked at all the cuts and bruises on his body. With a sigh, he turned on the water.

In the living room, Andrew ripped open the envelope and read the letter. He muttered, "An invite to a school...A whole new experience'... Yeah right. That brat doesn't deserve it." He then threw the letter into the fireplace, watching as it turned into ashes.