River Dreams

Small Lifeforms

CHAPTER NINE

Small Life forms

I will bite my lip and hold my breath for you

I would die a ghastly death for you

I would fight the monsters in my head for you

As long as you're with me...I am alive.

Once home I followed my mother into the kitchen, where my father sat eating a piece of leftover lasagna. He smiled as he spotted us walk in but quickly stopped once he saw our expression.

I almost laughed as I stood there, bits of food fell from his mouth as he attempted to speak. He looked like a child.

"What do you want?" He asked, his mouth still full of food.

"Vera, why don't you go up to your room and get some school work done, I want to speak to your father in private," she said, her hand patting my back.

I looked between the two, as I thought of what Dr. Anderson had said, I was still unsure of what to believe. How do I confront something like this? Who was the deciding factor in this strange game I was playing?

Who was I?

I took my leave before I heard them say something I didn't want to hear. I needed to find River and ask him what was going on, I couldn't stay like this much longer, I needed to know. It felt as if I might detonate.

I walked up the stairs, my movement robotic and slow. I felt my body slowly process the information, it was like each muscle was in between a desperate attempt to understand what was going on and function properly.

Once I reached the hallway I walked towards Rivers room, hoping that he would be there.

River answered the door, his eyes widening as I began to cry. Everything I had been holding in had finally began to spill out of my grasp, like an inevitable flood of curses and tears.

"Vera, what's wrong?" He asked as he pulled me into the room, locking the door behind me.

River pulled me towards the bed where he sat me down and wiped at my tears. River crouched down in front of me, his hands on my arms as he looked into my eyes. He was frowning when I shook my head.

"Vera, what happened?"

I sniffled, my voice feeling raw and scratchy as I spoke.

"I don't know what's going on, Dr. Anderson was acting crazy," I said, my hand reaching up to cover my mouth, desperate to keep my sobs from reaching him.

River tensed visibly his hands freezing as his eyes focused on me, "What did he say?"

"He told me that I had to leave with you," I sobbed, "and that my parents aren't really my parents."

River stood up, his hands pulling at his hair as he sat down beside me, the mattress dipped from his weight and made a slight whining sound. I continued to cry, silently hating myself from how pathetic I sounded.

"River, you have to tell me what's going on, now," I said, "I can't be kept in the dark like this."

I wiped my tears with my sleeve, discretely hiding the snot that was coming out of my nose as I cried. Little by little I began to calm down; I took deep breaths and told myself that everything would be fine, that everything would be resolved. All I need was answers.