The tide beyond light

Lara Beckenforth

Tell Me, What is it that you wish could just dissolve?

Chairs were brought out of the van. It was Christmas the next day and the whole community gathered together to set up the parish for the holy occasion. There were merry children, already jumping about, wishing one another "Merry Christmas". The elders were cracking jokes about their golden age when the celebration was not about the treats and gifts that a kind man who goes by the name of Santa brings, but rather the joy of the yearly celebration.

Yet miles away, somewhere in between quarreling parents, sat down a small girl. Lara was the name given to her, and Christmas to her was nothing close to a happy gathering.

"Why don't you just leave me and my girl alone, Buck?"

"Don't make me angry babe. Remember what happened the last time? "

Lara wished she could just escape from all the hate and fight that persisted in her house. Patrick was sleeping in the cradle. Even the baby seemed to get used to this weekly

"Why now? Can you not leave us behind and go to London? That was what you always wanted right? A whore with big boobs to play with"

"How dare you! Bitch!" another slap in the face.

Lara wept. Why God? Why do my parents fight?

She wishes she was even younger. Younger than even Patrick, an age when she could not understand any of this. Knowing less was better knowing it all.

'But then, it's Christmas eve. There had to be something special' she slept under the exhaustion.