Orianna
ran around the house loving the all chaos and confusion. It was finally
going to happen. Ariel
was going to have Her baby. She'd been asking for a baby
since she could remember,
but her Papa had just shook his head and said that
once had been enough.
It didn't matter now though because she was getting her
baby. She'd been so happy
when Ariel had come to stay with her, and she had told
her that she was having
a baby. It had taken forever for the baby to come. Now
it was time.
She tried to see over
the bed, but there were too many big people in the way.
She ran over to her father
asking her when she was going to be able to see the
baby. Her father just
looked at her and said that any time would be too soon.
Orianna didn't know what
that meant so she just shook her head. She saw her
mother holding Ariel's
hand as the blonde made a lot grunting noises and yelled.
Orianna had never heard
Ariel making those sounds before and didn't know why she
was doing it now.
Finally she saw a spot open by the bed and she quickly ran up to the spot,
her
raven pigtails bouncing as she stood on her tiptoes to peer over the bed.
She
couldn't see much, because all the blankets were in the way, but it wasn't
long
before she heard the sound of a baby crying. Her blue eyes grew wide as she
saw
the man hold the baby in the air. It looked really yucky cover in goo. She
heard
the man say, "It's a girl." Her baby was a girl. She was so happy. She would
teach her everything she knew. Which was a lot after all, she was five years
old
and had just started school.
Orianna felt her mommy lift her from the ground and place her on the bed
next to
Ariel. Then the man put her baby in Ariel's arms. It was the first time she
had
seen her baby up close and all the yucky red stuff was gone. " She's
beauteeful," Orianna said looking at the fuzzy blond hair and green eyes
she
staring up at her. She touched her baby's hand, feeling her soft skin. The
little hand grabbed her finger and held on tight as she drifted off to sleep.
"Well Orianna, what should we call her?" Ariel asked her. Wow! Orianna thought.
This is a big deal. I get to name her. It should be something real pretty.
Orianna thought long and hard. The nodding her head in agreement with her
decision, she said, "Her name should be Faelyn."
And so Faelyn Artemis Barde was born.
1971
"Come on Faelyn say mama. Come on say mama." Her mother said to her.
Faelyn looked away in disinterest. That wasn't the word she wanted to say.
Her
mother had been at this for the last few days. It wasn't that she wasn't
ready
to talk because she was. In fact, she had a lot to say. It was that she had
been
working on this one word, and no matter how hard she tried it just wouldn't
come
out right.
She turned her head when she heard someone come through the door. She looked
at
the figure that came in the room and smiled. It was her friend. The girl
that
played with her everyday. Her friend came near her.
" Look Faelyn, Orianna's here to see you." Her mother cooed.
"Hi Baby." The girl said bending down kissing her on the cheek. She liked
when
the girl did that. She reached out and grabbed the black stuff that hung
from
the girl's head.
"Owww… Baby, let go of my hair." The girl complained. " Has she talked
yet?" She
heard the girl ask her mother.
"Nope, nothing yet. Here you play with her while I start dinner." Her mother
said as she got up and laid her on the floor.
The girl got down on the floor with her and took her hands in hers.
"You'd better learn how to talk soon. There's a lot of stuff I wanna teach
you,
but you have to be able to talk. It's not so hard really. All you have to
do is
try. I'll help you. We'll start with my name. Orianna, come on, Baby, you
can do
it. Say Orianna."
Faelyn lifted her head and looked at the girl's blue eyes. They were so pretty.
She opened her, mouth. Trying to say the name. "O…Ooo.."
"Come on Baby, you almost got it. Orianna."
"O…rrr…" This was so hard.
"Orianna"
"Ooo…rrr..a"
"Come on, Baby, one more time. Orianna."
Okay, I can do this. " ….Anna"
The blue eyes grew bigger. And suddenly she was being
lifted in the air. "You
did it, Baby, you said my name. Ariel, Ariel, She said my name."
Her mother came rushing into the room. "She what?"
"She said my name. See watch. Go on, Baby, say Orianna."
"…Anna"
"Oh my Goddess, she said her first word." Suddenly she was began spun in
the
air. When it stopped, her stomach didn't feel so good.
"Hey what's all the fuss about?" Faelyn heard somebody ask, but didn't know
who
because the room wasn't finished spinning.
"Mommy, she said my name. Baby, said my name. Listen. Come on baby say Orianna."
"…Anna"
1977
"Anna! Anna!" Orianna heard Baby calling her. " Anna! Help me!" She heard
again.
From the sound of it Baby was on the other side of the playground by the
monkey
bars. But where?
"Anna! Help me! I'm scared!"
Orianna followed the sound of Baby's voice all the way to the other side
of the
park. She still couldn't see her. It wasn't until she heard, "Orianna's not
here
to save you now, Baby." That she knew exactly where Baby was and what was
happening.
She walked through the bushes and saw Baby stuck on the top of the monkey
bars.
The mean kid picking on her was a whole year older than Orianna, but that
didn't
bother her at all. She wasn't afraid of nobody. At twelve, she was taller
than
most of the kids her age and stronger too.
"Kevin Ares, you leave her alone right now. Pick on someone your own age.
She's
just a little girl." She looked up and saw Baby was going to protest the
fact,
but she silenced her with a look.
"Oh yeah, someone like who?" Kevin asked.
"Me." She replied with a smirk.
"You? Don't make me laugh. You'd better run along and play with your dolls."
Orianna raised an eyebrow at this. A challenge. She could never resist a
challenge. " What's wrong Kevin? Afraid you'll get beat up by a girl?"
"No, I'm not afraid. Especially not of you." He said turning menacingly towards
her.
"Give me your best shot." She taunted.
He lunged at her, but she ducked, kicking him in the leg. As he grabbed his
leg
she punched him hard in the nose. He doubled over on the ground in pain.
She
turned back to the monkey bars holding up her arms.
"Come on, Baby." She said and the little blonde climbed down in her arms.
"I knew you would come save me." Baby said wrapping her arms around her neck.
"Always" was Orianna's only reply. She looked over in disgust at Kevin. "Still
not afraid of a girl beating you up?" All she got in return was a grunt of
pain.
"Good. Remember that next time you decide to pick on, Baby. Because if I
catch
you doing it again. I'll leave you with more than a broken nose." With that
she
turned and walked away.
When they got home she set Baby down checking her for any cuts and bruises.
"Are
you okay, Baby?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." She said, and Orianna knew from the look in her green eyes
that she was telling the truth.
"Anna?" Baby said, reaching for her arm just as she was about to stand up.
"Yes, Baby?"
The blonde wrapped her arms around Orianna's neck. "Thanks for saving me."
She
whispered.
"No problem, kid." Orianna whispered back returning the hug. Then she stood
up.
"Come on, Baby let's get in the house before our mothers start to worry about
where we are."
1982
"I can't today, Baby. Maybe some other time." Anna said while brushing her
long
black hair in the mirror.
"But you promised me we could."
"I know and I'm sorry, but I promise we'll do it next weekend."
"That's what you said last weekend." And the weekend before that. Baby thought
to herself. It had been this way for a while now. Ever since she had started
dating him, the world's biggest jerk. He had ruined everything. Now Anna
never
had anytime for her.
"Can't I go with you?" Faelyn asked.
Blue eyes met hers in the mirror. "Baby, you'd just be bored."
"I won't get bored. I promise you won't even know I'm there." Though what
would
be the point of going if she acts like I'm not there? Still she refused to
cave
on the subject.
She put the determined look on her face and stared back at Anna. She knew
Anna
would give in.
"Alright you can come. I don't know why you would want to, but it's fine
with
me." The older girl smiled at her
Faelyn smiled back. Anna didn't smile much anymore. Not like she used
to.
Hardly ever. Nowadays, all she seemed to do was argue with her father. Faelyn
had heard them. One time they had woken her up in the middle of the night.
She
had heard Anna's father say she was a mistake. That he'd never wanted a
daughter. He'd wanted a son. Someone he could be proud of.
She had wanted to hit the man who was saying these things about her best
friend,
but knew she couldn't. How dare he say those things. Anna was the coolest
person
she knew. She was smart. She could beat any guy in a fight or a sport. And
on
top of that, she was very pretty. Faelyn hoped to be like her when she grew
up.
When the fight had ended, she heard Anna stomping up the steps. She quickly
ran
and hid around the corner. She didn't come out until she'd heard the door
slam.
Then she'd crept to Anna's room. Where she heard the older girl crying. Another
thing the girl hardly did. She'd opened the door and walked in and climbed
in
the bed next to Anna brushing the inky hair back from the girl's face. Watery
blue eyes stared at her for a moment.
"Baby, what are you doing here? You should be in your bed sleep." Anna said
in a
shaking voice.
"The fighting woke me up."
"Oh Baby, you shouldn't have heard that. If I had known…"
"He shouldn't say those things to you. They're not true. You're the coolest
person I've ever known. You know everything. I wanna be just like you when
I
grow up. You're my best friend."
Anna stared at her a few minutes before chuckling. Then she replied, "You
know
what, Baby? You probably the best friend I have too."
Faelyn smiled at her and gave her a hug. Anna returned the
hug. Then they
promptly fell asleep.
"Baby, snap out of it." Faelyn blushed profusely as Anna's voice brought
her
back to reality.
"Sorry did you say something?"
"I said what if we invite Simon Jedd along to keep you company. From what
I hear
he likes you a lot."
Faelyn visibly shuddered at the name Simon Jedd. He was the biggest
geek in the
school. And of all the people he could possibly have a crush on, he'd picked
her. It didn't seem to matter he was a whole grade older than her. Every
time
she saw him in the hall he would give her this goofy grin that was usually
followed by some equally embarrassing stunt like him tripping over something.
Usually it was himself. She was the laughing stock of the whole junior high
school.
"Why would you wanna go and do a thing like that? Why can't you, me, and
him
just have a nice time together?"
"He has a name you know. I would appreciate it if you used it." She said
turning
to Faelyn expectantly.
"Sorry, why can't you, me, and Kevin have a nice time together?"
"Because I've heard how you treat that poor boy. This will
give you a chance to
get to know him. Besides he will help keep you out of trouble."
"Me get into trouble?" Faelyn asked putting on her shocked face.
"Yes you. Trouble's your middle name."
"Actually Artemis is, but I kinda like the sound of trouble."
"Yeah, I'll just bet you do. Come on, Baby."
1983
Orianna and Kevin sat on the couch watching a movie. She glanced over at
Baby
who was sitting next to Simon on the love seat. Baby looked like she would
rather be anywhere but there. Simon had taken a hold of her hand, and she
could
tell by the look on the blonde's face that his hand was probably cold and
clammy. There was no way to get her hand free without it looking like she
was
trying to on purpose. And she had promised to be nice so there was no way
around.
She heard Kevin whisper in her ear. "How long before the kiddies go to bed?"
She turned and looked at him. They had been dating for almost three years
now,
and him and Baby had yet to spend one day together where they weren't at
each
other's throats.
"You know I can't just kick her out."
"Why not?"
Orianna raised an eyebrow at him. "It's her house too. And even if it weren't,
I
wouldn't do it anyhow. She's my friend. Probably the only real friend I've
got."
"Orianna, I'm hurt. I'd have thought I was your best friend."
She just looked at him and smirked. She then heard Baby say to Simon, "I'm
thirsty, Simon. I'm going to go get us a couple of sodas. Anna would you
help
me, please?"
Kevin glared at her, and Baby shot him a defiant smirk as Orianna rose from
the
couch.
As soon as they were in the kitchen, Baby nailed her with a glare.
"You have to get me out of this. Promise or no promise I can't take it anymore.
His hands feel horrible. He sweats like a pig." Her little nose wrinkled
in
disgust.
"There's only a half an hour left in the movie. You'll make it."
"I don't think I can."
"Baby, look at me." She waited for the green eyes to meet hers. "You'll make
it.
Now here. Got out there and get it over with." She said handing Baby two
sodas
and taking two of her own. They walked back in the living room.
"Here's your soda, Simon." Baby said through clenched teeth.
"Thanks, here let me help you with yours. Oops, sorry." Simon said as he
dropped
the soda can on the floor. "I got it." He bent and picked it up and preceded
to
open the top.
The next thing Orianna knew soda was spraying all over Baby.
"LOOK WHAT YOU DID!!" Baby screamed.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I'm so sorry." Simon kept saying over and over
again as he tried to wipe some of the soda off.
"NO! DON'T TOUCH ME! I knew it. I knew that being nice would get me into
TROUBLE!"
"Come on, Baby. It's not that bad." Orianna said trying to calm Baby down.
"NOT THAT BAD?! LOOK AT ME!"
Orianna looked over at Kevin who was laughing at the whole scene. "You know,
you're not helping the situation." She scolded. He just shrugged his shoulders,
looked at Baby again, and laughed harder.
Suddenly, the door swung open, and in stepped her father, drunk and angry.
"
What the HELL is going on in here? And what are these boys doing here?"
He looked around. First at the boys, next at Baby, then at the soda splattered
everywhere.
"Uhh, we were just leaving." Simon said headed towards the door, Kevin
not far
behind him.
"Damned girl, what happened to you?" He asked Baby. " What were those boys
doing
here? Well I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Your mother is a whore. Why
should
you be any different?"
Baby's eyes sparked with anger. " My mother is not a whore!"
"Yeah, she is. Otherwise you would have a daddy wouldn't you? But you don't
do
you? You're a bastard just like she was. Well, I won't allow two whores in
my
house." He said slapping Baby.
Orianna saw red. She pounced on her father punching him in the nose. He toppled
back and fell on the floor.
"Get up, you mean Son of a Bitch. I've been waiting
for this for a long
time." Her father stood lunging for her. She eluded him, wiping his feet
from
under him. When he hit the floor, she kicked him in the stomach.
"Don't you ever lay another hand on her ever again, cause if you do, I'll
fucking kill you!" She promised him.
"Get out of my house you ungrateful bitch. I never wanted you anyhow. I wanted
a
son. Someone to carry on my line, make me proud. All you've ever given me
is
grief and disappointment. Well, I won't tolerate it anymore. Not in my house.
You get out of my house now. And don't you ever come back." He gasped out
still
clutching his stomach in pain.
"You want me gone, Old Man? Fine I'm gone. You don't have to ask me twice.
I've
been waiting for this day all my life. And it hasn't come soon enough. This
house has never been big enough for the both of us. So I'm gone."
She walked upstairs to her room and began packing her things. A crying Baby,
followed after. "You can't leave me here, Anna. I need you."
Orianna paused in her packing and took the crying girl in her arms. "Shh,
I'm
sorry Baby, but I have to leave. This has been long in coming.
It's something
I have to do."
"I'll do anything. I'll go downstairs and apologize to him. When he hit me,
it
didn't hurt very much. I'm okay." Baby said in between sobs.
Orianna lifted her chin. "He shouldn't have hit you at all. And I'll make
sure
he never does it again. I don't want to leave you behind, but…."
"Then don't leave me. Take me with you. Please Anna don't leave me here."
Baby
pleaded with her.
"Baby, I can't take you with me. I don't even know where I'm going. I just
know
I have to do this alone. Even if I could take you with me. I wouldn't. You
don't
need to live that kind of life. You need a chance to be a kid, to grow up
with
friends your own age." Orianna said though she felt something in her die
as she
looked in those green eyes.
"I don't want new friends. I want you to stay here. You've been my best friend
forever. I need you to help me. I can't do it by myself."
"Baby, look at me. I've taught you everything I know. You are one of the
strongest people I know. You'll be fine. Here." She said picking up the locket
she'd gotten for her thirteenth birthday. "I want you to keep this. Whenever
you
feel like you can't do anything just press it to your heart."
Baby took the locket and put it on. She then removed the ring she recently
received as a present and handed it to her. "Here, so you won't forget
me." She
said sniffing.
"Oh Baby, I won't ever forget you. You're my best friend too. As long as
I live
that will never change."
Orianna left that day. She passed her mother and Ariel as she walked out
the
door. She heard Baby call for her to come back, telling her not to leave
her
behind, but she never turned around.
To be continued……
So what did you think? Constructive criticism only. Would you like to read
more?
What did you like? Have suggestions for other stories? Drop me a line at
maiacat523@hotmail.
