Impaired

Is the puppet show over already?

Chapter 1

***

Dreams. Some may call them hopeless fantasies, empty promises. Some may call them the goals of fools. Dreams are neither. They are the spontaneous bursts of compassion within even the most flagitious of people.

Coincidentally, they're also the reason I'm plotting a murder.

I usually love dreams. I think of them as a crack in reality, places you'll never see in real life.

This dream, however, was less of a crack, and more like a bottomless pit of doom, ready to skin me alive and engulf my remains with flames.

And what exactly was in this gaping, dark, black hole in reality?

Well, there was a demon trying to get me to sell my soul the deep, dark pits of hell.

Only wasn't a demon.

The demon, as fate would have it, turned out to be my mother.

And did I say hell? My bad, I meant public school, but they're the same thing, anyways.

Oh, and this wasn't a dream. This, indeed, was very, very real.

I could see the fire, the blood lust in her eyes. Her eyes were barely slits as she glared venomously at me. I grinned devilishly at her, clearly having a death wish.

She rubbed her temple while letting out a sigh of exasperation.

Well, I'll see y'all in the afterlife.

"Give me one good reason why you can't even try going to school." My mother demanded, her thick Korean accent seeping into her words.

Think fast, Hero. Think fast.

I put on a mask of sadness and anxiety, playing the guilt card. I leaned back in my wheelchair, acting as uncomfortable as possible. "Well, the last time I met kids my age, things didn't turn out so well." I bit my lip to keep myself from laughing, angling my head towards my lap so she couldn't see my face.

Guilt flickered across her features. I silently cheered myself on. Go me!

"Don't try to guilt me, Hero," she replied, having fallen into my trap many times before.

Darn.

After a couple more minutes of arguing, I realized she wasn't going to change her mind. We had this conversation a couple times before, but I had always convinced her that online school was fine. Nevertheless, it seemed that my fate was set in stone. I couldn't delay my abysmal destiny any longer. My time had come.

"Okay, fine. I'll go to school." I said dejectedly, leaning up toward the ceiling. As much as I hated the idea of school, I was also a little curious of what it was like. Going out with friends, sitting in an actual classroom, all the things I had been deprived of growing up.

My mom's eyes lit up as she clapped delightedly. "Oh, Hero. I'm so proud! You're going to love it! It's about time you make some friends. I'll tell your dad the great news!" She continued to ramble on about how great it was as she searched for her phone.

"Hello?" A gruff voice said on the other end of the phone.

"Guess what? Hero's decided to go to school!" She exclaimed enthusiastically.

I heard dad's reaction on the other end of the phone, and he didn't sound quite as happy as mom did. Nevertheless, he agreed to sign me up later, knowing that my mom could have argued for hours without end. She always gets what she wants.