Lone Lola

1

Cold
Dark
Wet
Silent
Father drags an unwilling me through the eerie woods. I ask him to slow down as I can't keep up but he ignores me.

Unbelievable!Lately Father has been very cruel to me. It scares me.

Finally we reach a clearing in the forest,gnarled pine trees surround us and a coppery smell fills my nose. There is a group of four, no,five people in hoods forming a semi-circle around two crumpled forms. From where I stand they look human.

What is going on?!

Father turns to me,"It's time Lola,that you learn to kill."

I flail around clumsily in the backseat, falling on to the car floor, breathing heavily and covered in sweat.
Great, another nightmare. I groan loudly and Mother notices,ugh, not in the mood for her niceties.

"Lola, dear, are you okay?",she asks squinting at the backseat for a moment. I notice it's dark outside and ghostly figures of trees,more trees and more trees and more trees pass by. I must have fallen asleep early evening. Awesome!Now I'm not sleeping tonight. I groan again.

" Lola, sweetie, should I pull over,are you sick,hungry,need the bathroom,oh no,are you cramping? Do you need meds,I knew I should have brought meds with for ..." Blah Blah Blah

Oops, shouldn't have groaned out load twice while ignoring her.

"Mother, I'm fine just fell off the car seat when I woke up, that's all,nothing major", I say, finally getting back on to the seat.

"Are you sure,was I driving too fast?Did you get hurt?"

"No Mother I am okay.
Okay.Chill.Geez, you'd swear I was made of glass the way you go on.How far?"

" You know I only look out for you , dear. "

"Too much I'd say", I mumble incoherently. She doesn't hear, thankfully.
"How far?",I repeat annoyed now that I have to interact so much with another person. Well she's my mother so I at least tolerate her more than most. But she's annoying as hell,honestly with her-oh no she's pulling over!

Shit! Please don't check on me.

She pulls over on the side of the road where the creepy trees stare at the road. My mother switches the engine off and gets out of the car, completely forgetting me for a moment,for the first time.
She walks a bit aways from the car, towards the edge of the forest of trees,inspecting something on the ground and ... sniffing...the air?
Lola frowns and then shrugs, seemingly not interested in Mother Dearest's strange adventures and habits.

Lee-Ann stands for another moment taking her time looking around and then finally returns to the car,looking a tad happier for some reason.

I sigh,and blindly look for my phone somewhere on the backseat. Ah! Got it.Mother continues driving again.I puts in earphones,about to put on my music when Mother speaks.

"Sweetheart,it won't be long now and we'll be at our new home! Aren't you excited?",she starts going a mile a minute.

"Uhm...",I so elegantly reply.

Mother goes on paying no heed,"You know dear,maybe you could make some friends. Start fitting in and being a new person,sweetie. Learn to smile and have fun. Maybe even fall in love",Mother dearest waggles her eyebrows suggestively.

I sigh and just look at her.

Minimal communication is my way of life and limited or rather non-existent interaction with other people is the norm for me.