Lily Pad

The Story:

"Please! Take pity. Please!"

A young man, Frank, was laying on the ground getting beaten. The woman, Abby, beating him was none other than his own wife. He was much bigger and buffer than she was but she was much wittier. There marriage was like any other, they had their disagreements, they had there "unpleasant nights," and most importantly, they had children. The children were young, there were three of them, two boys, Gabe and Tony, and a girl, Brittany who was much older than her brothers.

"You know what you did!" Abby said with unsureness in her voice.

"Woman, I don't know! Tell me! Please!"

The children were sitting in the living room listening to the whole ordeal happening to their father in the kitchen. Brittany was fifteen at the time of this event. She was beautiful with brown hair and green eyes. Her skin complexion was light tan. Even though her appearance was beautiful, her personality was even more. She often took the role as the caregiver for her brothers. She had never heard her mother so violent or angry. She was confused of the beating since all she remembers from her mom was love and passion. She remembers the time her mother came home and treated them all much differently.

Abby wouldn't usually stay late after work but one night she stayed so late, without answering her phone, that Frank had to call the cops to find out where she was. Frank was told to wait two days of her absence before calling the cops for an investigator. Later that night Abby came home, kind of tipsy. Abby smelt like cologne, her outfit was very wrinkly, and her hair was a mess. She claims that there was a deal at the mall and she was practically trampled in order to get Frank a new cologne and a half bottle of wine. Frank, trying to avoid any conflict between the two, chose to shove his suspicions down in his mind and just believe his wife. Everyday since then Abby has brought back a bottle of wine, sometimes half drunken, sometimes the bottle was empty. She started acting more angry and taken it out on her children and her husband.

Brittany shields her brothers from the pain of their mother's anger. After Brittany is beaten she runs down to her secret quiet spot. She enjoys going there so much that she wants to keep it all to herself. The spot is about a mile and a half away from her house in the woods, there she set up a little tent that she fashioned from twigs and branches. Right in front of the tent is a pond filled with beautiful white lily growing on extremely dark green pads. Brittany also has critter friends, a fox that showed up one day she named Mr. Red, and a thousand frogs that she named all the same name, Croaker.

The pond was always so beautiful, it didn't matter if the sun was up or down. When Brittany was beaten really bad she would go to the pond and lay in her tent and stare at the lily pads and pray. Mr. Red was always hanging out in the tent and he would cuddle in Brittany's lap. The special thing about Brittany that she keeps a secret from the world is that she can speak to all animals. Most of the time when she speaks to Mr. Red they usually laugh and play in the water.

Back in the house living room, Brittany turns the tv on to tune out her parents dispute. She grabs her shoes and goes outside to see Mr. Red. She enters in the woods and starts off in her adventure to the pond. She walks past many trees, sees many fluffy animals, and crosses over many dead trees. The adventure is one of Brittany's favorite parts of the secret spot. She loves the way the sun hits the trees and the smell of pine and pollen. When she finally gets to the pond she is greeted by Mr. Red.

"Why hello Mr. Red. I brought you a present," she said with a big smile and reached in her pocket to take out a little bag of leftover barbecued duck, "here you go. Who's a good boy."

"Thanks Brittany! You are the literal best! I love you so much," said Mr. Red as he reached his long nose into the bag.

When Mr. Red finished he jumped around and asked Brittany to play. They played tag, wrestling, and hide and seek.