Maze

Part Five

Amber had found herself nestled in a dead end. She sat with her knees against her chest; arms wrapped around her legs holding them close. Rocking back and forth, she was trapped by the fear of inevitable death that loomed over her head. She had been in that spot for some time now. If she continued to go she could walk into a trap. But the longer she stayed there the better the chance of someone finding her, and most likely not as a rescuer. Struggling with the two options, her heart sank low. She had many questions but no answers. Where were her companions? Were they even alive? Was she the only one left? These thoughts laid heavy on her shoulders, keeping her stuck to the ground.

It felt familiar. She could not help but to think of her parents, though she did not know much about them. To her it was as if they never existed, while they wished she hadn't. Knocked up at eighteen, Amber's parents were forced to wed by their parents. After she was born, they were a happy family for a brief time. But their happiness had soon turned into resentment, which they began to take out on the cause of it all, combined with a desire to forget about their mistake. Amber spent her earliest memories in a basement that would only see enough sunlight to illuminate a small section of the cold cement floor. Food scraps, enough for one meal but meant to last her all day, would be left for her in a bowl, usually hours after the meal had been made and the intoxicating smells of food cooking had tortured her until it dissipated. It was rare she ever slept well. Her bed was nothing more than a pile of newspapers, the sports section being her blanket.

It had went on this way for almost a year until the cops were called anonymously, and Amber's parents were arrested and she was saved. In court it was learned that a suspicious neighbor had placed the call. They were curious as to why they had stopped seeing their neighbor's child outside playing, or who had been watching her when her parents left the house for extended periods of time? She had been taking out the garbage and heard a child crying. Walking around the perimeter of their house, she had found a window into the basement behind an old dying bush. In the basement she could see what happened to their child, nearly bursting out in sheer horror at the sight. Her parents were sentenced to twenty years in prison for child abuse. Amber was to go into the care of her mother's parents.

She had not known her grandparents. If she had, and if the court had as well, then it would have been clear that they did not love her. Nor did they love her mother, and she was just a reminder of the worst part about their daughter. After the trauma she endured, she did not speak for several years. Instead of comforting her and helping her adjust they mocked her for it. They shunned her from their social life. The dinner parties they threw, Amber spent in her room. Instead of sending her to school, which they saw her as too stupid for, they sat her in front of America's prime education source: the television. The torment she endured was not just that of poor parenting skills. Any time she would make a mistake, she was punished. Leaving a light on, curiously examining something that belonged to them, or just their frustration at her refusal to communicate would frustrate them enough to raise a hand to her. They never severely injured her, but the physical abuse they inflicted had left her with scars.

A few years later her grandparents had been given another child by the state for them to care for after the passing of his parents. This time it was Amber's cousin, Chris, whose mother was her grandfather's first daughter from a previous marriage. But instead of hate they had nothing but love for their grandson, and were thrilled to have him in their care. They felt like they finally got the child they had wanted. But she did not have the family she desired. The three treated her like an outcast her and would share a laugh at her expense. She did not blame Chris for mistreating her, he was just doing as his elders requested, but his cruelty added onto her misery. They'd play board games, go to the zoo, and form a precious family bond without her. Her 'brother' would get the top of the line toys that year for Christmas, and she would get a single sock- or a helmet with no bike. At night she would be haunted by the ghost of their verbal abuse, calling her every ableist slur under the sun.