The End - Andy Fowler (Completed)

Three

You will never know just how beautiful you are to me - Wake Me Up - Ed Sheeran

2017

It was happening again. The same dream. I was at a campsite, running down a path, looking for someone. I kept shouting a name. Andy. Andy. Andy. I can see a vague outline of a person. Their hair spikey and dark. I can hear them talking. All I can hear them say is 'Miss Kenzie.' I'll never know what that means. I can see a patch of sand that's connected to a river. The person is stood on the sand. I'm trying to walk towards him but I can't move my feet. I have this dream most nights. It won't leave me alone. I've had it for so long now. I've seen counselors, doctors and nurses but it just won't leave me alone.

"Get out. Please, Tim. Just go!" My mum shouted, waking me up. For God's sake. Another fight with my dad.
"Make me. Come on, Sue. You come and make me!" He shouted. I pulled my covers up over above my head so that I could block out the noise. I could still hear them.
"Tim, please. You'll wake Kenzie up." I heard my mum say. I got out of bed and tip toed to the stairs. I sat on the top step and listened to what they were arguing about this time.
"So?! Don't you think she's fed up of it?! You're ruining her life, Sue. Mine too, for that matter!" He shouted. To be honest, he couldn't be more wrong. I hated my dad. He says awful things to my mum. He says them to me as well sometimes. He scared her. Sometimes he disappeared for days or weeks at a time. I slowly stopped caring where he was. I realised that I liked it much better when he wasn't here. My mum was happier. So was I. There was less to worry about. Apart from when he'd come home. I just didn't love him anymore.
"Please, Tim. Make this easier for all of us and just leave for a little while." My mum said calmly. I tiptoed down the stairs. I'd done this so often that I knew exactly which floorboards to avoid as they might creak.
"I've told you! Make me! Make me leave! Come on! I dare you!" My dad yelled.
"Please." She begged. I could hear that she was crying. Her voice sounded shaky. I peeked my head around the door. They were too involved in their argument to notice me. My mum had tears streaming down her face. My dad's face was very red and he was sweating a lot.
"Please what?!" He shouted.
"Just please." My mum whispered.
"Say it again!" My dad shouted. He grabbed hold of her hair. I'd never seen my dad hurt my mum physically before. I'd heard the words but I'd never seen him hurt her. I gasped slightly but not enough for them to hear. I wanted to run into the room and help my mum but it felt like my dream. My feet felt stuck to the floor. I was unable to move.
"Please." My mum cried. My dad pushed her hard, backwards. She fell and hit her head on the cabinet behind her. My dad kept on going. Hitting her. Kicking her. I don't think he realised what he was doing. I had a sudden burst of confidence and ran into the room.
"Get the hell off of her! Now!" I shouted. My dad stepped back slightly. He looked down at mum. That's when he realised the extent of what he'd done. He looked me up and down with a disgusted expression on his face. He stormed past me, elbowing me out of the way. I heard the door slam.
"Mum! Mum, are you ok?" I asked her. Her head was bleeding a lot. Her face was cut and she was shaking. Her eyes looked glazed.
"Go." She said. Her voice sounded forced and croaky, like when you have a cold.
"What do you mean, mum?" I asked her.
"You need to get away from here. It's not safe anymore. Please, Kenzie. Leave." She cried.
"Mum, I can't leave you. Not like this." I said, kneeling down next to her.
"He's going to be even angrier when he gets back. He'll take it out on you. You need to get away, my darling." She said, reaching out and holding my hand.
"Mum..."
"Please." She begged.
"Let me phone you an ambulance first." I said.
"No! I don't know when he'll be back. You can be on the phone with those ambulance people for ages. Chuck me the phone. I'll call one in due time." My mum said, but she didn't sound so sure.
"Mum, you can't die." I cried.
"I won't, sweetheart. I promise." She said. She held out her pinky finger. I wrapped my pinky around hers. It's what we used to do when I was little. I've never trusted anyone properly. My mum used to pinky promise things to me. She's never broken a pinky promise before.
"How can you promise that, mum?" I asked, tears falling from my eyes onto her bloodstained face.
"I'll stay strong for you, Kenzie. Go and get your phone. Get some money. Get a pillow. Just get important things and then go. I'm sorry that this has to be goodbye. You know what? No. This isn't goodbye. This is just an 'I'll see you soon'. I promise I'll see you soon, my darling little girl. I love you." My mum said. I squeezed her hand and kissed her cheek. I ran upstairs and grabbed the things that mum had told me to get. I also grabbed my stuffed rabbit that I'd owned since I was two. It was in the cupboard in my mum and dad's room. It smelt of my mum's perfume. I ran downstairs and out the door. I had no idea where I was going. I'd go to the ends of the Earth if it'd mean that my mum would be okay. I'd go to the end and back again.

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