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27
The Monster
This place used to be my safe haven, the only place I could be
myself. It was the only room in the house that ever held laughter;
that ever held love. I never dreamed that the monster would invade
our only sanctuary.
‘
I made the monster angry: I started crying. The monster doesn’t like tears. He says
that tears are a sign of weakness, and that the weak deserve to die.
Letty snatches my hand as we run away as fast as we can. I try to keep up with
her bouncing blonde pigtails we as run through the seemingly endless corridors
until we reach the music room. She turns around and gives me a shaky smile.
‘It’s going to be alright. I won’t let him hurt you, I promise.’
She hides me under the piano, and together we wait.
‘
I don’t hear him enter, but I can smell him; stale beer and sickly
cologne.
‘Tell me where she is or I’ll kill you instead.’
There’s a moment of silence before the sound of a slap fills the
quiet room. I press my fist into my mouth to stop my scream from
escaping, and squeeze my eyes shut.
‘Elodie, I know you can hear me. I just want you to know that this
is your fault, sweetheart. All your fault.’
He laughs, and I hear my sister take a deep breath, before the
sound of breaking glass shatters the quiet. There’s a barely audible
gasp, and then a heavy thud.
I open my eyes, and she’s staring right at me. I hear the monster
leaving the room, but he doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is
the bottle buried in Letty’s chest, and the fact that she isn’t looking
at me, but staring right through me.
And all I can do is stare right back into her empty gaze.
‘
With difficulty, I shake the memories frommy mind, and lift one foot
across the threshold, towards the instrument that saved my life.
I approach the tortured piano warily, like it’s a wounded animal.
It sits alone in the desolate room, a beautiful, damaged thing amongst
crumbling walls and splintered furniture. Trailing my fingers across
the once glossy surface, I slowly lift the lid and rest my fingers on
the keys.
I take a deep breath, and begin to play.
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