Tom, a young man with a dark past, finds himself in yet another abusive relationship. First it was his parents, now it's his boyfriend, Braden. He's ready for things to change, and they do when he escapes the grasp of his abusive lover and meets Mar...
*Warning! This story deals with sensitive topics such as sexual, verbal, and physical abuse. Viewer discretion is advised.*
*Flashback* Tom hesitantly pushed the front door open and stepped inside. As he walked in, his mother smiled innocently. Like any normal woman would when her kid comes home. Strangely, there was no "Get your ass in here and show me that report card, boy!" Or "How did you do this six weeks? Horrible I bet." Like there usually was. His mother always asked for his report card as soon as he brought it home, and he could only expect one thing if he didn't get straight A's. This time he had a few B's, which would be perfectly fine in any other household, but not his. In fact, nothing was normal about Tom Davis' household. He didn't exactly live like other 11 year old boys. Tom ran for the stairs, hoping that he would be able to get to his room before she could ask. "Oh, I almost forgot! Tom, bring me your report card." He stopped. Maybe his mother wouldn't tell his father? Maybe she would take pity on her son for once? Tom slowly removed the paper from his bag as if it were a delicate artifact. His mother snatched it away from him, and unfolded it quickly. There was a short pause before she finally said something. Tom gritted his teeth. "Lets see here... we have a B, another B, an A....." She mumbled under her breath. "Go pick out a belt and wait for your father to get home." Tom's mother, Barbara, was completely heartless when it came to her only child since she was the more religious one of the family. She didn't react well when her only son came out as gay. The poor boy had discovered that arguing made his punishment much worse, so he shuffled his way towards his parent's bedroom and picked out a small leather belt from the closet. His stomach ached and churned in anticipation as he made the short, yet agonizingly long journey down the hallway to the the dark room at the end.
It would be an hour or so before his horrible excuse of a dad came home from his horrible excuse of a job. Tom thought about how all the other kids at school were excited when the bell rang at 3:00 and the busses rolled in, he thought about how happy everyone else his age was, and he really thought about what it would be like to be normal. Tom had always been known as the weird quiet kid, and really didn't have any friends.The fact that he was gay made everything much worse since everyone, including his parents, were Christian in the small town he lived in. Suddenly the door flew open, revealing a large brown haired man with a bottle in one hand, breaking Tom's train of thought. Joe, Tom's father, was a bad alcoholic and had been drinking again. "I heard you failed again, boy!" Joe screamed as he undid his thick leather belt. Tom watched in horror as he walked to the side of the bed, grabbed his son's wrists, flipped him onto his stomach so that he was on his knees, tied his wrists with the small belt Tom had chosen to be hit with to the headboard, and stood back. This time was going to be somehow worse than every other time. Joe laughed cruelly as he struck his son in the side as hard as he could, forcing a whimper out of him.
Tom opened his eyes slowly as he remembered everything that had happened earlier that day. The first thing he noted was the severe pain in his back and pretty much everywhere else. He must have passed out again. His father often left him tied to the bed after he was done, and never came back to get him. Luckily, this wasn't the first time the young teen had ever needed to escape. Skillfully, he bit into the black leather of the belt and unwound his abuser's tight knot without too much trouble. As the belt fell to the floor at Tom's shoes, he pondered what he should do next. Staring at the path that lead into the woods, he thought perhaps he would jump out the window and run to his special place. Sure, he would get in trouble, but it was worth it. He meant, of course, the tree on the other side of the forest, by the river. The tree that always kept him safe from harm and gave him hope. His special Wishing Tree.
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-------------------------------------------------- Author's note: Hopefully that wasn't too bad. Keep in mind that I'm only a middle-schooler, so my writing skills aren't exactly "perfect" or even "good". I really want to improve, but I can't do it without some help. So, if anyone has any tips or wants to correct me on something that was either incorrect or could've been worded better, please do.
