Magnolia

I drifted in and out of a daze for close to three hours, while my mother and Gordon kept each other company.

The smell of cigarettes in the air caught my attention and I slowly sat myself up. I couldn't hear my mother, but I could hear Gordon's boots while he walked about the house. He obviously didn't care that his boots were echoing through the entire house, because he walked up and down all the rooms.

I sat silently waiting for him to leave our house, but he continued his stroll until he reached my door. My breath caught in my throat. My breathing quickened and I felt a small drop of sweat travel down my forehead. I threw the quilt over my head with hopes of keeping the intruder away from me.

 

    I watched his shadow that played under the door frame, waiting for his next move. After a few seconds of him standing there, he began his stroll again. I exhaled heavy, but I couldn't get myself to pull the blanket off from over my head. I listened intently to where his footsteps went; he walked through the kitchen and I heard him pull open a drawer. The clinking of the silverware echoed through the house, and my mind immediately went to the knives.

 

I finally got the courage to slowly take the covers off of my head. I reached my right foot off the edge of my bed until it touched the smoothness of the wood floor. The cold contact made my heart rate instantly jump and I found myself scared to leave my room again.

I slowly slid myself down from the bed and dragged my body on the floor until I was safely placed under it. I squeezed my eyes shut as hard as I could and prayed that the man wouldn't hurt me or my mother.

I lied on my stomach with my arms locked around my head and praying under the bed for what felt like days, until I heard him softly shut the drawer. I opened my eyes and stared at the door waiting for something to happen.

 

After a few long seconds I heard his boots walk off down towards my mothers room. I thought about him and the knife and my mother all in one room, and I finally got the courage to get out from under the bed and run to the door.

I swung the door open as quickly as I could. The door made a loud sound when it hit against the wall, but I was in too big of a hurry to help my mother to care. I didn't hear screams, but I had a theory that Gordon would smother her face with a pillow to keep the screams down to a minimum.

 

 With every step I took, my feet thundered against the ground and I could feel every crevice that was within the wood. I quickly reached my mothers room and without a second thought I threw the door open as wide as it would go and started screaming, "Get off of her you b*****d!" while running to him and punching him on the back.

 

I quickly found out that she was not being smothered with a pillow. I also found that neither of them were wearing any clothes.

 

I instinctively covered my eyes and started to scream at the top of my lungs. Without hesitation, my mother got off the bed and dragging me out of the room by my hair. She still had no clothes on, but that didn't stop her from pinning me against the wall and putting a tight hand around my neck.

 

"What were you thinkin' d****t!" She screamed in my face. Her breath had a strong odor of whiskey and cigarettes.

 

I clawed at her hand to try and get air to my lungs, which only made her grip tighten. Her nails dug deep into the skin of my neck and I could feel droplets of blood extracting from my body. Tears welled in my eyes and I was seeing black spots. She let go of her grip and I fell to floor gasping for air.

 

"Don't you Ever! Do that again? You hear me?" She screamed down to me. I rapidly nodded my head and held my throat protectively; I was dizzy and scared of what she was going to do next.

 

She merely kicked me out of  her way, walked back to her room, and shut the door. I heard her say something to Gordon, but couldn't make out the words, then it was quiet again.

 

I was still on the floor panting and shaking. I crawled to my room and shut the door quietly. I crawled back under my bed and dragged my quilt with me. I rubbed my hands against the soft yarn of the quilt, and tried thinking about the large, creamy-white bloom of a magnolia tree. Anything to make me happy.

 

    I lied staring at the cushion of a mattress from under my bed, and listened to the quiet thudding coming from my mothers room. I closed my eyes, but still my tears came.

Reviews

[Livana Lowell]

I have little critism here because I was too into the story to read meticulously. I feel bad for Belle because her mind had been tainted with an act that she had not been taught or was never explained so it was all a confusing thing to her. Poor Belle.

The only suggestion I have is to revise this sentence because you repeated yourself: " I couldn't hear my mother, but I could hear Gordon's boots while he walked about the house. He obviously didn't care that his boots were echoing through the entire house, because he walked up and down all the rooms."

Otherwise, I almost cried for Belle, I'm going to continue reading now.

[Coyote Poetry]

Children in the old days still has a few mystery that was learn with time. I like the chapter. The events was strong and poor Belle will remember this night for a long time. A very good chapter.
Coyote

[ashley]

Damn. This is a powerful chapter. Fantastic job! :D