Flerae: A Lie Untold

Chapter 3: Step Dad

- Ocean - 

Sitting in my usual spot, I watch the lake, as its waves and ripples cross the surface. Dark shapes form in the water and slowly take the form of my mother and her boyfriend, Carp. 

Oh, crap, I think.

I bolt behind the nearest mud hut, its wooden posts covered with dried mud and leaves. 

"Ocean!" Mom calls, " I have some good news!"

I peek out from behind the house, my curiosity getting the better of me. Curiosity killed the cat after all. 

As soon as I see Carp's dark brown tabby fur, my ears go back, and I find myself hissing.

"Oh, quit it you two," says Mom, "you are going to have to get along, 'cause Carp and I decided we are going to be mates!"

"Oh, great," I mutter under my breath, "Just what I need, a big bully coming around even more than before."

"Ocean, quit your whining," her teeth clamp as she looks at me, as if she can't bear the thought of having a kid. 

"Come on, Starfish, let's do something fun, leave the kid, he won't want to come anyways," my new step-dad purrs.

"Have fun spending time with my lousy mom," I shout at them as they slip back into the water. 

* * *

Mom peeks at me through the rocks of my make-shift home. I close my eyes and pretend to be asleep. "Life will be better for you, I promise," she says in an almost whisper.

Those words repeat in my mind as I try to sleep. Life will be better for me... Life will be better for me... UGGH!... I can't stand it, trying to think it will all be okay, just because Mom says so... Mom ignores me... Pretends I don't exist... Maybe she loves me, but if so, she doesn't act like it...

A plan starts to form in my mind. I may not be able to go to school, with my disabilities, but I will find a way to get some sort of education, at least so I can have a moment of freedom.