memory

It was almost midnight in the Hong Kong Local streets, where I lived with this soulless man. The old temple belonged to distant monks who soiled into better temples but he would never know. The stroke that had rubbed him of his senses would keep him hospitalized in the sanatorium where he now resided until death took him to a better place.

The tiny room where i arbored was at the far end of the sprawling building, supposedly for my well-being. But sometimes i argued about the location. Isolated from the other rooms, it was simple for Richard to pick me anytime he wanted which from time to time, came calling.

Tonight, Veil slept curled up against a little teddy called mistletoe. Mistletoe was dark and chubby and on occasion still comfort her. Veil liked her well enough but always slept on the edge of the bed for fear she would fall off, and tonight was no exception.

The ceiling fan squeaked with every rotation, but the repetitive sound on seven year old Veil face was oddly soothing. They were familiar things that proved no threat.

She was dreaming about playing in a field with a man, his face was blur but the tenderness he showed her was extreme. The breeze she'd been feeling on her face was no longer blowing. It had happened before and meant bad things would happen. she started to squirm. There was something that she needed to remember what happened when the wind stopped blowing. But she was so deep into sleep she could not make her self wake up. The mattress beneath her started to shift. Mental warning bells went off so loudly that she sat straight up in bed with a gasp.

"shh" a voice whispered. it's okay my darling.

Veil knew the voice too well, Richard's voice. she also knew he didn't care if she was sad or not. He was why the wind quit blowing. Every time he learned over to pick her up out of bed, he blocked the air from the fan. He was going to take her to his room again, and she didn't want to go there.

"No", she cried and started pushing him away. she didn't want to go she was absorbed by the fire of its terror.

"easy, my darling. you know it is going to be all right, Richard always take care of his baby".

"No" Veil begged, now struggling to get out of his arms, but he was unwilling to overcome his urge that night.

"Be quite, you might wake the neighbours".

Within a second, one of the doors opened. A young girl walked out into the hallway. She was tall for a ten year old and wise beyond her years. Richard saw her and frowned.

"Mary! go back to bed".

but the young girl stood her ground

"please, Richard let her go"

"it does not matter what you want"

" take me instead, i will go in her place"

"I don't want you now go back to bed before i make you sorry.

By now, Veil was crying uncontrollably. Mary reached for her, but Richard slapped her away, then shoved her inside and slammed the door.

There was a shuffling sound on the other side of the door and then death silence. In a moment, Veil stilled. she knew that if she made any more fuss, Mary would come after her. If she did, Richard would get mad, real mad. And when that happens, people get hurt. she didn't want Mary to be the victim of circumstance.

"that's my girl" and gave her a huge hug.

she turned her face against her sleeve and closed her eyes, unable to understand why this was happening to her. In her eyes, her mother had just gone off and left her here. she did not know what happened to her parents, and even f she had, in her child's mind, she would never have understood the ramifications of what that meant. All she knew was that she was alone with this terrible man that hurt her. She also knew that if she raised a big fuss, Mary would get in to trouble and she loved Mary. She was her senior sister and best friend. so she stifled her sibs and closed her eyes, already letting her mind go to another place where nothing was bad and Richard didn't exist.

Richard had no idea what was going through the little girls mind, and if he had, wouldn't have cared. He was focused on the business at hand. A couple of seconds later, he turned the corner of the hall. just before that went inside, he heard Veil whisper

"Don't do it to me" she begged

"I cant" he said softly, and kissed the tousle of curls on the top of her head. "I want you baby girl. My body all wants you. you know you are special.

"I don't want to be special" she said

"But you are" Richard said and then opened the door.

Immediately, jade closed her eyes as Richard carried her across the room. she felt the silken fabric of the sheets as he laid her on the bed. She held her breath as footsteps crossed the room, then stopped near where she was lying.

He touched her face, then her arms, then her legs, then tugged her nightgown over her head and put his hands between her legs.

"open your eyes, honey. Look what i have for you to play with".

She struggled to wake up from the bad night mare but completely her mind was evoked. Pink flashes of light spangled across her windows, she stared down to see a man playing around with his child, and something hard pierced her heart and questions kept making her unstable like What is her father like, who is the blurred vision of her knight and what would a family be like if she had one......

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