It was a nice summers day in New York, if I remember correctly. The air having the faint of a breeze, and the sky orange with the color of one thousand Flowering Maples. I sit on the table as the child cowers in fear from the event that is taking place just outside his room. The Parents are once again fighting about money. They have always been in such a tight spot with issues like these. The Father storms into the bedroom and quickly grabs a bag.
"If you dont need me my money, then you don't need me!" The Father yelled
"Get out of my house!" The Mother angrily replied
Just like that, with a slam of the door, the Father was gone. Leaving me with the child and mother. The mother collapses to the floor, sobbing. The child begins to cry as he does not realize that his Father may never return.
The child stands and walks over to his mother, only to be pushed away and told to leave her alone. The child then walks to where I sit. He grabs me by the arm... and holds me tight. He doesn't let go, for fear that i could pack up and leave him also. The child never forgets that day, and for the next year, the mother gains drinking problems. When the mother drinks, she yells, even to the point of talking about suicide. It is at these times that the Child holds me tight, the same way he did that one afternoon, and he never lets go.
Child
My name is Tyler, I am 8 years old. I live with a monster, well actually she is my mommy. I have a favorite bear. He doesn't have a name, but he reminds me of my daddy, who left me when i was 6 years old. My mommy gets very angry when she drinks from her "Special Bottle." I don't like it when she drinks from it. I get scared. But i don't have to worry cause i have my Bear. My bear keeps me company. Now i know that my Bear can't talk, or walk, I'm not that stupid, but I know that he listens. I know that he hears me crying when my mommy yells at me. I know that he is there for me.
My mommy was a bad wife. That's why my daddy left. Daddy never visits anymore, but i know that he left my Bear just for me. He left it so he can come back someday and take me and my bear with him. My mommy says that it was my daddy's fault, but i don't believe her, i know that she caused this I know it was her fault.
Bear
The Child doesn't understand what happened that day. He has to make up false memories about the situation. The Father didn't leave me on purpose... I was left as a memory. He wanted the child to never forget him. The mother is not a monster, she is depressed, she doesn't work, the house and even the Child have been threatened to be taken away from her... So she drinks, she drinks away money, she drinks away her husband, she drinks away her life. She doesn't realize that she is slowly killing herself, and the child.
Child
Mommy is drinking from the special bottle again. She is sitting in the kitchen and crying. I don't want to go talk to her because she will yell at me. I dont know why she cries, i wonder if it could be that she is crying because she made my daddy leave. I want to tell her not to be sad, because he will be back. I grab my bear again, and i hug him. When i hug my bear, i can see my dad, i can feel him tickling me again, i can hear his voice saying goodnight. I start to cry, and i hug my bear tighter, trying to remember my father, trying not to let him go away... Just like mommy made him do.
I don't remember falling asleep last night... but i woke up with my Bear right next to me, and i was on the floor. I went outside my room to check on mommy, but when i went out, i saw broken pictures of daddy, and a broken special bottle. I looked for mommy, and i found her lying in the kitchen. I asked her what she was doing and she said,
"Nothing. Just go back to your room." Then she laid back down.
I think she was lying, i think she fell asleep in the kitchen last night.
Bear
I can see the condition of the mother getting worse day by day. Every morning she runs out, and she comes back with a new brand of alcohol, and in the evening, she drinks till she passes out. The child still does not understand what is happening, but he knows that the bottle is bad, he doesn't want his mother to keep doing this. Maybe someday he will realize what is going on... his mother might not be the one to tell him, but he will find out, when the time comes.
The mother yet again went out to buy another drink, and came back with a much smaller bottle, indicating that it must have been an expensive, strong liquor. She did her regular routine.
She trudged into the kitchen, put the bottle down, opened it up, and went to sit in the living room on her usual chair... Then she drinks...
One Sip, Two Sip
One Chug, Three Chug
Half the bottle is gone by now, and the child approaches the practically unconscious, drunk mother.
"Mommy, what's for dinner?"
"Make something yourself you ignorant brat! Can't you see i'm busy?" She says as she tries to stand, plopping back into her chair.
"But mommy--"
"Shut up! I swear if it wasn't for you! I wouldn't be like this!" At that moment the mother stood up, dropped the bottle, and in a swift movement... hit the child. The child collapsed to the ground, stunned, and began to cry. The mother picked up the bottle, and raised her hand again, ready to strike. But the child is already gone, in his bedroom, clinging onto me with his dear life.
Child
Mommy hit me.
When i woke up the next morning, mommy was already drinking from her bottle again. I want her to stop, i want her to start feeling better. She has already drunk a whole entire bottle. I wish i could stop her.
Bear
The child grabs me by the arm and takes me with him to his mother, whom is sitting in the living room, drinking, once again. The child, with a motive i am uknown of, walks towards the mother, with courage in his eyes. The child swipes the bottle out of the mother's hand. The mother stands with fury in her eyes, and the child's courage, and will disappears. He bolts towards the Kitchen, and runs out the door, into the cold open world.
Child
I stepped out the door, and my feet got very cold. I was stepping in snow. I didn't want my mother to catch me, so i kept running. I ran down the road, towards the store where mommy gets her "Special bottles." I ran across the street and into an alley, hoping mommy won't find me.
I am getting very cold. I lost mommy's bottle in the snow.
Bear
I can hear the mother dialing the phone frantically. She quickly says a few words, then hangs up in silence. The officers arrived only a few minutes later, they try to calm the mother down, who by now is sobbing, and panicking at what has happened. The sirens are rushing up and down the streets. The famous red and blue lights bouncing off the walls like they were made of rubber.
Child
I lay in the snow, too cold to move. I start to remember that day my daddy left me. Maybe my Daddy will come and save me from the cold. I remember my mommy before that. I remember my mommy smiling and laughing with me and daddy. A picnic set in front of us. It was a month
after that day when my daddy left me. I dont remember my mommy ever being a bad wife. She was always smiling, and being happy. Why did my daddy leave.
It's... getting very hard... to write. My hands are... very cold. I can see my daddy... he is at the end of the ally. I can't move... and it doesn't look like he sees me. I try to yell for him... but i can't speak. I am... getting very... tired. So i close my eyes.
Bear
A piercing scream, echoes through the house. The child has just been found. His lifeless body, in an alleyway just down the block. The mother slides down the wall, she was once leaning on. She starts to cry. The one thing she had left in this world, is gone. We thought she didn't care about the child, we thought she didn't want him. The one thing she had left, she pushed away, to the point of death. I now lay motionless on the floor. Ready to be packed up as another memory. For the boy, that once lived.
Any and all characters and events
portrayed in this book is by coincidence.
All characters and events are fictional
and do not resemble actual scenarios or people.
