The Taboo Topics

A Mother's Love

When she's born, in the early hours of a cold Monday, Sarah thinks that she is the most perfect baby that she has ever seen, even more perfect than Alex or James or any of her nieces and nephews.

"Audrey Bethany Nickle", she whispers to herself as she traces the blueish veins under her daughter's pale, sickly skin. "No one will ever be as extraordinary as you are," she says softly, kissing her forehead and handing her to the doctors hovering nervously at her side, waiting to care for her ill child.

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When Audrey is three, she asks if she can go to work with her father. He agrees wholeheartedly and brings her with him the next time the school he works as a substitute teacher at, requests a visit.

She abandons him soon after they arrive and spends hours in the library turning the pages of books that she is far too young to read, let alone understand.

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When Audrey is four, she starts going to a public school instead of being homeschooled like James was, because Sarah's husband cannot bear the idea of his children growing up to be completely oblivious to everyone else in the world.

She comes home with a broken arm in a plaster cast and dried tears on her cheeks. She says she fell off the jungle-gym of her own accord.

Sarah thinks she's lying but doesn't say anything and takes Audrey to the emergency room to get her arm x-rayed.

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The gang members, some of the remaining ones at least, that Sarah and her husband, George find Audrey and Alex at their school when she is five and he is ten.

It takes the police a whole two hours to discover the situation and send help. Alex comes out of it with a gash on his forehead and a broken finger while Audrey lies in a hospital bed for a week straight because her leg is broken and her shoulder is fractured and she has a concussion.

It's the first time Sarah has cried since the doctor's told her that her newborn baby girl might be too sick to survive.

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James is charming. Aside from his mischievous, hazel eyes, he is the picture of his father. He is talented when it comes to Baseball, and funny and can command a room without anyone ever noticing. Alex, on the other hand, with his bright green eyes and dark hair, is clever and cunning but still very much like his older brother.

Either way, it's still a really, really big shadow for anyone to live in, especially for someone like Audrey, who is the sweetest and gentlest child Sarah thinks exists. Audrey spends her days absorbed in all types of literature about fantasy and autobiography's about boring, old people alike, and it is far too scary-everyone says that she is abnormal- for Sarah to even ponder the reasons why.

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Both James and Alex are due to leave for schiil the Febuary after Audrey turns eight. Although the boys love their little sister, Sarah thinks that Audrey will benefit from this.

But then next thing she knows, her eight year old is begging and pleading to be allowed to go to a boarding school in France- which accepts students that are or will be eight- at least until she's old enough to go to her brother's school.

Audrey starts learning, and then Audrey starts speaking fluent French, and then Audrey starts not eating, then Audrey starts to look a lot more like a French girl. Audrey still talks about books, only now they're in French.

Sarah knows that Audrey still cries herself to sleep every night when people call her abnormal and it still breaks her heart

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