uoıʇıɹɐdsıᗡ

ᴅɪᴄɪᴀꜱꜱᴇᴛᴛᴇ - ᴘᴀꜱᴛ

I wanted to say, 'You brought me here. If you seem to have forgotten you forced me to be here, by abducting me.' But, I refrained from doing so, as it would get me nowhere other than in more trouble and still without any 'luxuries' as he calls them. So, instead, I say,

"Oh, come on! I've got nothing to do! I'm more likely to cause more trouble if I am bored. Please, Mr Morelli?"

I can't believe I am pleading with this low- life. I thought, disgusted with myself.

"Hmm. What's in it for me?" He questioned, with a smirk upon his stupid face.

"Erm...Well, I will be nicer to you." I suggested, whilst holding myself back from cringing.

"Oh, is that right? I'm not stupid, Leonessa. It's offending that you think I am."

Shit, he's catching onto my plan. Deciding to distract him I question,

"What does 'Leonessa' mean?"

"Why do you want to know?" He replied, smugly.

"Because you are always calling me these foreign names, knowing that I don't have a clue what they mean. So, I think that I have a right to know what you are calling me, without my knowledge that is." I defended, I had a valid point.

"That's a fair point. It defines as 'Lioness'."

"Why do you call me that?" I asked, confused.

"Because you have a fire within you and courage. Both of which a Leonessa has." He answered, his tone serious.

I was speechless for a second. Was that a compliment? That was probably the nicest thing that he has said to me so far. I'm quite touched by that.

"Erm...Well, thanks... I guess." I answered, unsure.

"The library is at the bottom of this hallway on your left. Now leave, I've got important business matters to attend to, rather than waste my time arguing with you."

Deciding not to push him to ask about being able to explore the garden, I drop it. Seeing as he has gone back to being a grade- A dickhead, the answer is going to be a no. I am appreciative that he even told me where the library was at all.

"Thank you." I replied, grateful.

Walking out of his office, I immediately go and search for the library. I come across a grand set of double doors. They had impeccable designs carved and embossed into the delicate oak wood. You could tell that they had been here for a few decades, designed by one of the best wood carver's that my eyes had ever had the honour of laying upon.

Placing my hand upon the handle, I twist it and push the door forward. What laid before I was breathtaking. I know you're probably thinking it's just a library, but to me it is so much more. It holds a substantial amount of history, fictional and non- fictional novels.

The walls were layered with shelves, stacking books up as far up as the ceiling. It reminded me of those old- fashioned libraries, the ones with the step ladders that allowed you to access the books that you desired to read. It was truly magnificent. I could stay here forever, well maybe not. I need to get out of here, to get back to Katy.

***

I always have loved to read, it is one of my few hobbies. A memory of when I was a child absorbed me into a trance.

It was a fine, beautiful day outside, with the blue sky radiating happiness and warmth, the birds singing a joyous tune. However, I was an eight-year-old child was anything but happy. I was miserable.

My parents couldn't care any less about me, Katy was away for the break with her family. So, I had a substitute maid who was old, stuck- up and cruel. She used to rip a page out of one of my precious books when I would make a mistake with my homework. I disliked that woman.

The one thing that I can say that I respect about my father is that he fired her one day when he saw me shedding tears with Agatha shredding my favourite book to pieces, whilst saying that I was a mistake and that I should have never been born. I never saw her again since that day, which makes me wonder where she is now? If she is no longer cruel and has found happiness? I hope she has, nobody deserves to be that miserable for their entire life. I could tell that she was a lonely woman.

I was lonely then and I still am now. I remember vividly the library that occupied my parents' house, I used to spend hours of my days there. If not in the library, I was outside situated under the big oak tree in my garden. It was right at the far end of the garden, meaning that is was peaceful so that nobody could find me.

It allowed me to think and have time to myself, dreaming and imagining myself as one of the characters out of the books that I read. It made me happy for a while, but as I grew older reality hit me in the face like a bitch. It showed me that I would never have a family like that, who loved and cared about me.

It leads me to believe that nobody had a family that perfect, but maybe I was just telling myself that so that I wouldn't have to face the cold, hard truth. That I will never have or get that 'perfect' family that I craved. I have accepted that now, I just have to be grateful for what I have and not wallow in the past.

The book that had captured my interest the first moment that I had laid my eyes on it was titled, 'Running Wild'. By Michael Morpurgo. It was my favourite book as a child, it still is now. It is about a boy who lives with his mother and father, they were very happy up until his father died at war. His mother was grieving and heartbroken, but she still cared for her boy. She cried every night, trying to hide her pain from him, so that she wouldn't upset him. He was still so young, but he still knew that his father was dead.

However, he also knew that he has to be strong for his mother and himself or else everything would fall apart. They went to his Grandparents, stayed there for a while and were happy, but his mother thought that they needed a break from reality. So, they went to Thailand for Christmas. However, the boy so desperately wanted to ride an elephant, so his mother allowed him to as long as he was careful.

That very day whilst he was riding the elephant it became distressed and took off into the forest with the boy clinging on for dear life. It knew something was wrong, and it was. A tsunami swept everything away, killing his mother so that now he was parentless. They spent days, weeks even in the forest, the boy desperately clinging to his life, trying to stay alive. He did.

Long- story short, the boy saw some awful things, went through lots of sorrow, but the elephant stuck by his side the entire time. They grew fond of each other, some would even say that they were best friends. They went through a lot together as well, but in the end, he was known as the jungle boy, trapped within the jungle with the elephant as his protector for two years. He survived because he stayed strong and had someone that cared for him and showed him that there was hope.

There is always hope. He had a happy ending, but it goes to show that everyone goes through pain and sorrow in their lives. Some people decide to stay attached to that pain and be unhappy, others decide to move on and be happy. It's your choice.

Translations:.

Leonessa:. Lioness

Word Count:. 2045