The Protector

Chapter 1

    I dropped the blue crayon from my hand, allowing it to bounce on the table before running over to my dad who was watching the tv, even as the signal kept cutting in and out from the storm outside. The tv is the only source of light in the room aside from the occasional burst of lighting that filtered through our windows. The monstrous storm outside of our warm house caused the tree branches outside to press and scratch against the roof, an animal-like scraping sound as the result. I would have been scared, had my strong dad had not been right next to me.

    “Dad,” I called out to him with confidence radiating from me because of what I had just created. When he didn’t look at me I grabbed his arm for his immediate attention. “Dad,” I called again, raising my other hand that held a colorful paper. “Look.” He turned his head slowly to look at me, the colorful part of his eyes darker than they used to be. I think it was his new eye color… I think I got a new eye color too.

    “What?” He whispered, his voice hoarse like he needed water and smelling like it too. I shook the paper in front of him with excitement and he grabbed it from me, brows furrowing together as his eyes moved over it. “What is this?” He asked, his voice changing pitch though to my oblivion. I smiled, glad that he was paying attention to me again for the first time in weeks. 

    “That’s me,” I pointed, “and that’s mommy and that’s you. And you’re beating up the bad wolf,” I pointed to the dark creature on the paper. I waited for him to tell me how good of a job I did and how much he loved it, but he just stared at it, looking sad. I had always received nothing other than complete and utter admiration for my fine art works, so I had no idea what to do with this newfound silence. “Dad?” I asked after a few moments, leaning over the chair arm that seemed to be one of the many dividers now between us. 

    Something hit me hard across the face, causing me to quickly stumble backwards and fall to the ground, landing on my backside. I put a hand over my cheek to soothe the burning sensation while tears filled my eyes from the sudden pain. A second later, in front of me stood my dad, face red like blood and eyes black like coal. An image flashed in my mind of a recent and recurring nightmare that scared me to my core.

    “Don’t you ever do something like this again!” He yelled, the thunder and venom of his voice so loud that it drowned out the physical storm raging outside. “Do you hear me?” He screamed, shaking the paper in his hand for emphasis. I nodded hard and fast, causing the warm tears to spill from my eyes. “Now go to your room,” he growled as though he was a bear. 

    My body was frozen from fear and I couldn’t move. My mother warned me about freezing like this when I was outside in the snow for too long. But I wasn’t frozen because of the snow this time.

    “Go!” My father roared, stepping towards me. I scrambled to my feet and ran upstairs, tripping as the tears in my eyes clouded my vision. I slammed my bedroom door shut and ran to hide underneath my bed- once a place where I thought monsters were and now my ironic escape. I would soon come to realize that under my bed, with the monsters, was actually the safest place to be.