scratchers

Parysons Retreat

What is this scratcher??!! I hear you all cry in perfect synchronisation. Well my Internet browsing comrades I shall tell you. In time. First you must understand where Alex and I are from and our situation.

Me and Alex live in a village in the great white north Canada basically located in the middle of no where. No cities or neirboughing villages lay close by to us nope we are alone but most the the few citizens who live here like it. We call our little village Parysons Retreat. The name comes from our mayors family who first settled here hundreds of years ago parysons was their surname if that wasn't already obvious. We have a town hall home of our fearless leader, the old mine where my father worked before his passing, the school which is mostly just another house with a few more tables and a board, the police station made up of six old officers and the house blocks.

Most homes lay empty now as the population has certainly died down alot since my birth. There is only twenty other kids in the village and even less adults and elderly. Because of how small we are everyone knows each other in some way. It's a nice thought in theroy having a small community where everyone knows each other but in reality it's not so great. Having arguments with people can last for weeks since you see every citizen every day and the creeps like old man Joe the village drunk is always walking up to my mother and me since he knows we are the wealthiest. Oh yes my family is the royal family of parysons retreat but not because we fought to claim it off the old family. We have this title because of the "relationship" my mother likes to call it with the mayor. Despite what she believes we all know it's not a relationship as he only talks to her when he wants to have his pointless disgusting fun and doesn't even take care of me. Derek the mayor is a poor excuse of a man. He is the last of the parysons family line and isn't exactly living up to his excellent family reputation. drinking, ranting and being creepy are his main traits and his looks are about as good as his personality. His hair is a brown colour and always looks like it's been dipped in grease the amount you'd expect from a homeless man. The suit he wears everyday is no longer respectable and is just a shirt covered in sweat marks and dirt. On his horrid face is a beard no man could be proud of as bald patches lay within the messy disgrace and like it's cousin it too is greasy. Other than the money I don't know what my mother sees in him.

Ma only got with disgusting Derek because she couldn't stand to be alone. My father her husband was a good man. He'd wake up with a smile on his face and resting on top of his head was a neatly combed hair style that made him look like some big shot actor in Hollywood instead of a miner. Before work he'd visit me in my room and sit next to me to watch his son sleep peacefully. Behind his smile was a deep depression but I think seeing his little boy in bed with no worries in the world gave him some hope that happiness and good still exists. He'd been doubting life and happiness since he lost his family when he was a young boy. Although he got better he never fully recovered. They had been going to the beach in America on holiday when a truck him them. His six year old sister and both parents were killed upon impact. Something no child should see. Truthfully he'd been sad his whole life even when he met my mother and it only changed when she said two words a man can either dread or love. "I'm pregnant". When she tells the story now she explains how he fell to his knees crying with joy then picked her up and span her around in circles. "Something out of a romantic movie" mother says when she finishes her story. One day a storm hit the village making everything very wet and un stable. That day he had work. Him and the miners all argued against the bosses saying it was too dangerous to mine but the money hungry bastards forced them to. "Either mine or don't come back" they said. We didn't have alot of money so he had to go down there. Just before he did he made sure to say an extra long goodbye to my mother just in case and stayed at the end of my bed a little longer than usual. It was about eleven pm we got the news the mine had fallen in and my father was among the many killed.

Enough about my family I've gone on too long about it. The scratchers are what you need to know about.