Tell Me a Fairytale

I found myself in the bathroom, rocking back and forth and sobbing. Now I was positive nothing would ever be okay again.

Suddenly, the lights came on, and I saw that someone stood in the doorway. I wiped the tears out of my eyes to see who it was and caught sight of the Bible in her left hand.

Vanessa closed the door and came to sit next to me. "Maddie and Emily... They never knew their real parents," Vanessa said softly. "They don't understand people like you or me. It helps to talk to someone who knows how you feel."

"No one knows how I feel," I muttered.

Vanessa shook her head. "Much of my childhood was a blur. I hardly remember it, which is probably the single greatest blessing I've ever received. I'll tell you what I do remember, though. I remember my father." She choked on a laugh. "It's funny that I should call him that. The sick bastard abused me in every way you can imagine, and some you can't. And when I was seven years old, he beat me senseless, over some stupid thing. Then he just left me there to die. Luckily—well, I guess that's debatable—they found me in time, but they never found him. I'm glad, almost. I don't know what I'd say to him if I ever saw him again. What I'd do."

She wiped the tears out of her eyes. "I've been through a ton of foster homes since then, left only when I had an encounter with some asshole of a man. I don't know much about your situation, but I do know what it's like not to have parents. You get used to being independent, feeling alone. You're not, though—at least, not here."

Vanessa looked at me. Her bright blue eyes didn't suit the life she was forced to live, all the tears they never should have cried. I felt like I knew her as well as she seemed to know me.

"Girls! Dinner!" I heard Miss Fisher the foster-guardian yell in that too-happy singsong voice of hers. Vanessa looked at the door, then back at me.

She stood and reached down to help me up. "Come on."

I took her hand, and she smiled. She had such a beautiful smile, when matched with her eyes, you wouldn't be able to guess who she really was. No, you'd get lost in that moment and nothing else would matter ever again.