Dollhouse

The Image

* A year earlier*
She was 16, and it was her brother's graduation day. The day he could finally say he was free. Not only free from high school, but his "loving" parents. She had taken about 4 Vicodin before the ceremony and was plastic as usual. She always had to be plastic outside of the dollhouse, she must not falter. Smile, shake a hand, talk about her college aspirations, that was her routine. And if it wasn't followed closely consequences would ensue.
This day was not as spirited for her as it was her brother. This meant that she was the only one left in that dollhouse to face the wrath of her two monsters of parents. The only one receiving the beatings and having to cover the bruises, if there were any. Because by this point Ron had meticulously picked spots on their precious bodies not shown to the public. He called the bruises " reminders of your sins."
She was numb as she hummed the words to her favorite song " my happy little pill, take me away, dry my eyes, bring color to my skies, my sweet little pill.....numb my skin." Her brother walked robotically across the stage shaking the hand of their principal, receiving his one way ticket out of the dollhouse and into the real world. He would be going to Harvard of course because Yale was too democratic for his father's taste. "No son of mine will be prancing around with fairies and associating with those Obama lovers on my watch, do you understand?" Ron chastised. " Yes father," he said back methodically trying to not to cause an attack on his frail body.
She sits back on the cold damp ground thinking back on that moment. The moment she realized how broken their family really was. She gets up brushing the dirt from the back of her dress and walks over to the 2015 Porsche Panamara she received for her 17th birthday. Opening the door she spots the little orange bottle along with the small plastic baggie filled with white powder and the very large Jack Daniels bottle that she is sure her parents are too waisted to notice is gone. She gets in the driver seat and pulls out her journal scribbling down the last thing she wants the world to know about her and that dollhouse. The truth about the perfect family from Wisteria.