The Tattoo (formerly Unbreakable)

Distractions

~~~

It was her birthday. The beautiful daughter of Arnold VanShay had just turned 14 years old, and nobody wished her a happy birthday,  Meriddion waited through the day, hoping that this year would be different, that her father would acknowledge her as more than a being he was forced to coexist with.

He did acknowledge her, but not in the way that she had hoped.

When she asked him about it at dinner, he'd hit her.

She had cried on her bed until her birthday was over.  Thoughts raced through her mind, she couldn't live like this.  She had hoped things would change but they didn't, and she had put up with it for too long.  She thought back to when she was young, she never thought she would die, but now she knew that she could.

Am I too scared to try?

She picked up a pen and grabbed some notebook paper.

                   Father,

I can't take it anymore.  I don't want to, so I'm not going to force myself to.  I would apologize for this but you don't care anyway.  By the time you're sober enough to read this, I'll be gone, forever.  I wish you would just come back to me Daddy, but it's too late, I'm going to be with Momma now.

She set down the pen and turned to the mirror.

"Goodbye."

She stood from her chair and left her room, walking slowly down the hallway and up the stairs to the rooftop.  She stood on the edge looking over at the asphalt below, it had never seemed so inviting.  She held her arms out to the sides.

"I wonder if I can fly."

Just as Meriddion had closed her eyes and felt ready for this, she felt strong arms wrap around her and pull her away from the edge.

"Stop! Get off of me! Put me back!"

She looked up into the most handsome face she had ever seen. 

"Why? So you can kill yourself? No."

"Who are you to tell me what I can and cannot do?"

"I am your father's slave, it is my duty to protect you."

"Oh, get off," she shoved his hands so that he was no longer holding her.

"You can't do this."

"I can and I will," she spoke defiantly, going back to the edge of the roof.

"Wait!"

"What?" She whined.

"Talk to me."

~~~

"Cameron kept me grounded for almost a year, I would hang out with him behind my dad's back, but when my dad found out it wasn't good.  He killed Cameron and hurt me more both physically and mentally then he ever had before. I tried to commit suicide again but just ended up in a coma for a month."

"I'm sorry."

"I thought we weren't saying sorry."

"So, what changed?"

"I found ways to distract myself."