Caged In

Chapter 54: Trip Down Memory Lane

You know when you sit down at the movies with your popcorn, and you impatiently wait for the movie to start as all the commercials roll by. Short clips, designed to pique your interest, convince you to see their movie next even before the movie you actually came to watch starts. And as the lights finally dim in your theatre and the movie starts, all you can think about is that new movie you saw in the short clip.

It felt like I was watching nonstop movie trailers for movies that never came out in theatres. I plunged into a sudden darkness before a fuzzy light appeared, and as it expanded, a picture became clear. A picture of a smiling girl at the beach with her parents appeared before the sounds of the ocean enveloped my eardrums as the picture started to move.

" Mommy, look!" She held a small fish in her hands proudly. It squirmed around in her small fist, trying desperately to escape from the clutches of the toddler back to the ocean where it could once again be surrounded by the soothing salt water and swim far away from the girl who captured it. She quickly dunked it into the water, as it to give it a false sense of security before she ripped it away from its safe haven and brought it to her mouth.

I sat there with my butt in the sand. I was in timeout after I pushed Finn into the ocean. I hadn't known at the time that he couldn't swim and father was very angry when I brought a wet, pale, and traumatized Finn to him.

I'd almost forgotten that he hadn't always been such a shitty parent. When I was too young to understand his extramarital affairs and what they meant in the context of my mother's mate bond, I practically idolized him. He actually cared a lot for my siblings and I, and even though he constantly cheated on her, he insisted he cared deeply for my mother as well. She died believing him. She died a fool.

I promised myself I wouldn't make the same mistake my mother had, and I rejected the notion of soul mates. After all, why would a benevolent goddess give someone like my father to my mother – or better yet – why did the mate bond kill my mother when she was nothing but loyal to my father, who was responsible for corrupting it in the first place ? How was that fair ? How was that justice ?

It only stood to reason that if the moon goddess was a kind and just god, then soul mates couldn't be real. Because the greatest kindness a goddess can bestow onto her creations is free will.

My attention turned back to the scene at the beach that played out before me.

I watched as a girl's mother chased her," Mia, stop it! You aren't an animal, put that thing back where it belongs!"

The girl stopped running and took the fish gingerly out of her mouth. Her mother, who was still running, almost trampled her over as the girl spoke," But I thought we were animals. Daddy told me animals hunt to survive."

" You're a girl. You won't need to hunt." The woman took the fish from her daughter's hands.

" But daddy always takes Varian out hunting." The girl whined.

He mother knelt down," Sweetie that's because --"

Their voices began to fade, and the picture seemed to disappear as a new light appeared to my left. I turned to it to see a teenage boy holding his hand out towards me. He had a few bruises on his cheek, but his smile told me that his injuries didn't faze him.

" That's not fair, I said not to go easy on me." I growled at him.

" It's not my fault you're weak." He said as he put his hand closer to me, offering to help me stand up.

I quickly smacked it away as I stood up and brushed my knees off," I'm not so weak that I need your assistance getting up."

" I wasn't saying that, I was simply being a gentleman." He said.