ANGELINE

Litost

Angeline is 10 years of age, the same age her birth mother was when she met Angeline's father. All she knows is that Charlene and Bernard are her parents. Always have been. No other potential story has ever been presented to her, explicitly or otherwise. One of the unspoken rules that seems to exist between Charlene and those who know is that no one is ever to mention this to the child, that ignorance is the most blissful state they could hope for. If it wasn't for the respect that Bernard inspired, simply by representing an image they all valued, those who knew, would have broken that unspoken rule a long time ago.

Amber has a son of about the same age. A scrawny little thing with a fragile ego and an overly developed sense of litost. He despises the way that Princess Angeline is doted on by her parents. The fact that she has parents (plural), grates even. But above all of this is the fact that Angeline is taller and stronger than him. She runs to the monkey bars at the end of the street faster than he ever could. Climbs all the trees in the park quicker and higher than he is capable of. She never does any of these things out of malice or to provoke him intentionally. She is, to all intents and purposes, lost in her own world. But this sense of shame she causes him to feel, simply by virtue of being herself, is almost too much for this little in heart and stature boy to take. Thus he spends a lot of his time and energy trying to make her feel a little of the pain she inflicts on him daily. It never seems to work though, much to his chagrin.

Then one day he finds out the source of all the hushed voices and sideways looks whenever Angeline or her parents venture near. A dirty little secret for a lonely and sad little boy.