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She went upstairs and found her mother lying on the couch, choosing to sleep there instead of in the bed with her abuser. A sheet draped over her midsection, left arm raised on a pillow, forehead damp from the extreme heat. Crouching in front of her mother Sam brushed her fingers against her forehead and face, wishing that her mother wouldn’t have to suffer further. The house was sweltering even in the middle of October. She could smell the alcohol and soda that leaked down into the wooden floors from last night, its contents dried but sticky where the glass had shattered. Chairs lay on their sides and there was a new hole in the wall just above the couch. Sam brushed her hand against her mother's shoulder and the woman woke in her usual startled haze. Behind her Sam could hear the television, something about the sun producing massive solar flares in the next couple days. Reporters debating with experts on the extent of the damage that could be done, Sam ignored it.
They looked down at her mother’s swollen forearm, the colors already starting to change in it. She thought back to the broken plate she had seen in the sink, a dried piece of pizza resting with it in the stainless steel bin. The softball bat Sam had played with in her youth lay in the middle of the hallway. “I think it’s broken. Can you drive me to the ER when I finish getting ready?” Sam nodded and asked, “Did he hurt you anywhere else?” Her mother shook her head. “No, I’m sorry you had to hear that.”
Sam detested this part of the conversation, if her mother was sorry she would have solved the issue years ago. She would have done the right thing and gotten a divorce. Her mother was tired of hearing that word and Sam was tired of the relentless complaints if her mother was unwilling to change the situation. It was like a script she read from, the scene never changing. However, Sam smiled and brushed her hand against her mother’s good hand.
“It’s okay, I’m used to it.”
“You shouldn’t be.”
Nodding Sam got up from the floor and left her mom, she felt guilty for being so harsh with her mother but she was tired of living in a constant state of depression. Wanting a way out, an end to this hell, but seeing no end in sight, Sam lived what she thought to be a meaningless existence and her sorrow picked away at what little strength she had left.
It had been two days since the incident and life was back to its normal routine, mom had “fallen” and cracked her ulna. Sam was the only one other than her mother and father that knew the truth, her father had hit her with Sam’s softball bat. They had returned from the doctor with X-Rays, her father holding them up triumphantly.
“Sam come here and look at these,”
“Aren’t these cool? Look at the bones,” He pointed to the broken section and started giving a short explanation of where the bone was supposed to be. Hatred filled Sam as he blatantly mocked the both of them, if only she could get away with murder. It took her all not to scream at him but it was too late he had already accepted the lie they had come up with. Trying to tell him any different would be a waste of time. Sam stood silent not impressed by his lack of empathy.
“I don’t see why you hate me Sam. I was your favorite when you were little.” It took everything she had not to roll her eyes at her father. It was hard enough dealing with the intense heat wave that Sam didn’t want to listen to his comments further; she left him to stew in silence.
Her relationship with her parents left little room for others; she had a small group of friends and even had a partner. She had faults, to her friends she could be standoffish and intimidating and her boyfriend thought she was to negative. All the while Sam asked them to see things her way, how could she think positive when her life was nothing but negativity. Life wasn’t a blessing but a curse and she was too much of a coward to end it herself. Her father’s mother or her grandmother was really the only relative she spoke to outside of family events. The older woman assured Sam that no one could make her happy but herself. It might have been true for others but even as she tried Sam couldn’t do it.
Sam tried therapy in her last year of high school but it was awkward, paying someone to listen to your problems. Walking into an office pouring out your soul and crying wasn’t exactly her ideal hour vacation away from the house. After two sessions Sam called it quits and decided that she’d have to find her own way.
People asked questions about her mother and Sam answered vaguely but straight to the point.
“Did she really fall?”
“What do you think?
Sam walked through the living room on her way to shower, her mother out back and her father’s eyes glued to the TV. She only spoke to him when she had to and even then her replies were filled with sarcasm and disdain.
“Sam have you seen this?”
“What?”
There were 3D Models on the TV and a frantic news reporter rambled on, trying to follow the voice of NASA’s scientists. The model showed a large solar flare bursting from the sun; it projected the percentage of interference for cell phones and other electronic devices. The President, a man in a nice tailored suit interrupted the broadcast to address the public.
“We want to assure the public that these scientists are hard at work. The coming weeks will be difficult because our country and many American’s rely so heavily on technology. We ask that you be patient.” The news reporters came back with their banter, picking sides and bickering.
“You’re ******** kidding me. He’s so full of s**t.” The remote hits the floor at such a velocity that it’s back cracks and the battery rolls across the floor. “It’s almost ninety degrees and these are only affecting our technology? Damn scientists don’t know what they’re talking about, government’s lying to us.” Sam rolls her eyes as she makes a break for the bathroom door to shower.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
“Showering I have class today.”
“Aren’t you ever going to be finished going to school?”
Sam knew something was wrong; the subject was brought up in her classes. Classmates had their speculations but it was all just Global Warming. It wouldn’t affect them in this lifetime.
When she came home she grabbed a blanket from downstairs and tossed it in her car. Her mother was making dinner and her father was still glued to the TV, his voice filling the house. She left without a word to either of them. Her destination was a large sledding hill outside of her town. She parked her car at its base and started her climb in the dull light. The heat still weighed heavily on her despite the setting sun. Sam set the blanket out on the top of the hill and laid back to watch the sky.
A flash of yellow appeared and the hot air enveloped her further before the sky returned to its normal setting horizon. This was the end and she had accomplished nothing that she had dreamed of. Her dreams were too big and her expectations too high, she should have had smaller goals. It might have made her happier. The dusting of pink and purple brightened, flashes of orange and yellow appeared, moving into orange and red shades of blue as the temperature began to rise. The sun had reached out to her and in her darkest hour given her the brightest way to end her suffering. The colors grew closer and the heat turned her flesh into a bright red. Sunburn but the pain and agitation were barely noticeable as it seared away her troubles. Traveling from her fingertips and up towards her arms, burning at her clothes. She could see the houses disintegrating; row by row they fell and left ash in their place. Scorched land that cracked and fell away as the wall of heat continued on its path.
More flashes of light, blinding her as she throughout her arms and laughed, as she watched her home turn as the others did. Her mother was finally free of her father and Sam was finally free of them. Overwhelming joy and relief she fell to her knees, closed her dry eyes the light suddenly overwhelming. Waves of heat cradled her as she drew in the soot filled air, her cracked lips grinning. Nothing was left.
 [XDigital LoveX] · Sat Jun 20, 2015 @ 07:11pm · 0 Comments |
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![[XDigital LoveX]](https://a1cdn.gaiaonline.com/dress-up/avatar/ava/64/c2/6bb9bcd921c264.png?t=1633909257_6.00_01&pl=15 "[XDigital LoveX]")