Status: exams so may be pauses between each chapter
Love Blinds
Prologue
She ran. She didn’t care where she ended up. She only ran.
Natalie collapsed under the great oak on the outskirts of the house grounds. She gasped for breath, partially because her lungs were about to explode, partially through shock. She rolled onto her back as she relapsed into a mixture of coughing and tears, the closed her eyes in the sunlight. As tears rolled down her face, she felt the sunshine on her skin. The grass was still wet from the morning dew and she could feel the damp seeping through her flowery dress, on her body in anticipation of the church service she wouldn’t be attending this morning. On this Sunday morning, she opened her eyes and peered through the leaves of the oak tree above her, and stared out into the clear blue sky. She stared out into space and wondered, for the first time, where her father was right now. What happened when you died? Do you go to a different place when you are killed in an accident before your time?
She also wondered what she was going to do now without her father. Her mother had never cared what happened to her, when her mother had left her in the car when she first came home from hospital with her, her father had been the one to take her out and into the house. He had been the one to bottle feed her, read her stories and look after her in general whilst her mother ‘worked’ or in other words, managed her numerous affairs behind his back. She only learned about the affairs after her mother had forgotten about her again and locked her in the car with her hand bag, where Natalie had read an incoming text. The only time she could ever remember her mother paying her any attention was when she was mentioned in a Blue Peter programme and her mother had paraded Natalie in front of her friends.
Natalie slowly came to the realisation that she couldn’t lie here forever, she would have to face her demons at some point. She may as well get it all done at one time. Natalie slowly got up, straitened out her damp dress, and started back the way she had came a few hours before. The sun was now high in the sky, so she guessed her mother had gone out to a ‘meeting’ by now. She still couldn’t bring herself to think on the way that her mother had delivered the news to her. She had just put her dress on ready for church in her room when the door opened and her mother passed her a note and then made her way back down the hallway. Just a cold note. No comfort or motherly chat. She literally didn't seem to care. Recently, her new fetish with becoming connected with the royal family was all she cared about, even if she didn't have a plan.
As she reached the front door, Natalie quietly turned the knob and let herself through the massive door into the extensive lobby, with its marble floors and winding staircase. If she was honest, it was more of a mansion than a house.
“Ah! There you are!” Natalie jumped round, shocked. Her mother had actually noticed her absence!
“I need you to go down to the hospital.” Okay. That makes more sense. She needs something done.
“Why?”
“Someone needs to identify the body.” She didn’t know what to be more shocked about, they fact that she was asking her 17 year old daughter to go and identify her father’s body, or that she had just referred to her father as ‘the body’.
“Why don’t you go?”
“Don’t give me that, I do lots for you, you should do some more to help round here.” Little did her mother know that their home would fall into disaray if she and her father hadn't kept it in check. She guessed that it would be up to her now.
“You are asking me to go and identify my fathers body. It’s hardly a chore mother.”
“Whatever. I’m late for a …meeting.”
Natalie changed into a black dress after she had rung a taxi and prepared herself to go to the hospital. In hind sight, she recognised this moment as the moment when she, properly, became an adult. After that, she had little to enjoy, she had to look after herself. She ran the house, took care of the bills and even so, had little freedom. She was still under constant watch from her mother. This was the way Natalie’s life stayed for the next 8 years, until one day.
--- 8 years later ---
Natalie collapsed under the great oak on the outskirts of the house grounds. She gasped for breath, partially because her lungs were about to explode, partially through shock. She rolled onto her back as she relapsed into a mixture of coughing and tears, the closed her eyes in the sunlight. As tears rolled down her face, she felt the sunshine on her skin. The grass was still wet from the morning dew and she could feel the damp seeping through her flowery dress, on her body in anticipation of the church service she wouldn’t be attending this morning. On this Sunday morning, she opened her eyes and peered through the leaves of the oak tree above her, and stared out into the clear blue sky. She stared out into space and wondered, for the first time, where her father was right now. What happened when you died? Do you go to a different place when you are killed in an accident before your time?
She also wondered what she was going to do now without her father. Her mother had never cared what happened to her, when her mother had left her in the car when she first came home from hospital with her, her father had been the one to take her out and into the house. He had been the one to bottle feed her, read her stories and look after her in general whilst her mother ‘worked’ or in other words, managed her numerous affairs behind his back. She only learned about the affairs after her mother had forgotten about her again and locked her in the car with her hand bag, where Natalie had read an incoming text. The only time she could ever remember her mother paying her any attention was when she was mentioned in a Blue Peter programme and her mother had paraded Natalie in front of her friends.
Natalie slowly came to the realisation that she couldn’t lie here forever, she would have to face her demons at some point. She may as well get it all done at one time. Natalie slowly got up, straitened out her damp dress, and started back the way she had came a few hours before. The sun was now high in the sky, so she guessed her mother had gone out to a ‘meeting’ by now. She still couldn’t bring herself to think on the way that her mother had delivered the news to her. She had just put her dress on ready for church in her room when the door opened and her mother passed her a note and then made her way back down the hallway. Just a cold note. No comfort or motherly chat. She literally didn't seem to care. Recently, her new fetish with becoming connected with the royal family was all she cared about, even if she didn't have a plan.
As she reached the front door, Natalie quietly turned the knob and let herself through the massive door into the extensive lobby, with its marble floors and winding staircase. If she was honest, it was more of a mansion than a house.
“Ah! There you are!” Natalie jumped round, shocked. Her mother had actually noticed her absence!
“I need you to go down to the hospital.” Okay. That makes more sense. She needs something done.
“Why?”
“Someone needs to identify the body.” She didn’t know what to be more shocked about, they fact that she was asking her 17 year old daughter to go and identify her father’s body, or that she had just referred to her father as ‘the body’.
“Why don’t you go?”
“Don’t give me that, I do lots for you, you should do some more to help round here.” Little did her mother know that their home would fall into disaray if she and her father hadn't kept it in check. She guessed that it would be up to her now.
“You are asking me to go and identify my fathers body. It’s hardly a chore mother.”
“Whatever. I’m late for a …meeting.”
Natalie changed into a black dress after she had rung a taxi and prepared herself to go to the hospital. In hind sight, she recognised this moment as the moment when she, properly, became an adult. After that, she had little to enjoy, she had to look after herself. She ran the house, took care of the bills and even so, had little freedom. She was still under constant watch from her mother. This was the way Natalie’s life stayed for the next 8 years, until one day.
--- 8 years later ---
♠ ♠ ♠
Thanks for reading, please continue, I promise the story gets better, this is just the prologue :) x