17 - Falling alone

Ever since preschool, it was apparent that everything about Lea was never the same again. It was harder to get her to smile and she was always away in her thoughts if give space alone away from people. Always doing secert things but these little things had always been a beneficial small favors. She knows it wasn't always good things in the long term, like make sure that there was a pack of beer stacked in the fridge. Putting away the items no one else remembers to, like the guest towels or bed sheets. Moved wallets to be where they belong or bed stands of who owns it. Clearing pockets before thrown in laundry basket. She was braver then before, scooping spiders with cups or blocking the snake from entering the house. She would constantly get geckos and frogs off the kitchen window, not quiet big enough to close the window even after climbing the counter.

When it was time to face the 1st grade, she fell behind not just in learning due to dyslexia but not wanting to be socialized. She never speaks out or makes the effort for friends. It would seem that no one seeks to make friends with her. She doesn't try out of her way to be disliked or viewed a problem behavior wise. She doesn't ask for help, she learnt that mistake in other lives. She managed to stay in between four schools and barely pass the second grade for when her mother asked the big question.

So time had moved away but it never erased the pain and wounds of what had happened. They say time erases things. A lie.

The Big question. That was it came to no surprise to a very observant person that her mother was talking to someone online, and had been for many years. There wasn't a time that a little girl didn't notice her mother loading a old dial up computer, giddy for an email or message from strangers online. It wasn't exactly safe online but her mom did a great job a rangle in a fine English fella.

The man himself was already a once before married, had a wonderful daughter and two grand children. The marriage fell apart from the other person's problems and differences of child raising. Given the biggest break reason was what lead to two grand children. The divorce was a difficult break and had him loose everything, literally everything he owned thrown into a skip.

As true to her previous live, Lea watches a lot of TV at her grandfather's and she great freind with her cop grandfather. So she has some knowledge behind that uncanny maturity that didn't right for 2 year old. Her mother has gotten to understand that being forthcoming in blund honesty was the only way of her daughter will respect their relationship.

The big question was simple but the explanation around why she was asking it took a little doing.

'Could her mom fly over to another country to meet a total stranger from online?'

The basic little things like how will she know who she looking for at the airport. What if something was wrong about this stranger or was there a way for her to fly back instantly. Why this guy? How well did she know him? Was he the total stranger that sent Christmas mail from England? Forever in reminder as the tea towel guy.

Answers were consistent and clearly there wasn't worry about the man. It was the journey and the place he was living at. That seems the more pressing problem was not getting lost in the quiet of green feilds called England. There was always back up things for if this guy was bad.

Her mom will only be gone a weekend. At worst a week. A week of survival in the house where the only decent cook was leaving. Even still gut feelings knew there was mixed fortune ahead. That her mom will come back. Who knew that there was so many problems of what happened in the time away.

The literal first evening of her mother going to the airport. No one cooked dinner. The morning was worse given that no one set up the coffee machine. All the cranky coffee drinkers were foul all day for it. The second night was that Lea was nearly bitten by a massive zombie spider that her uncle couldn't kill. He crushed it four times before Lea captured it into a cup and throw it outside. The crushing helped rid of the legs that could have had it escape while being ran out the house, it didn't fit in the cup otherwise. That night, dinner was greasy and something seemed off. The third day she was ill from eating night before and that her so called brother had decided to secretly cook meal for them both. He has nice times and there were bad times. He was still her brother, no matter what. A successful and filling meal, had them both told off for not being supervised in the kitchen. Which led to him running away out the house for that arguement and not coming back for three days. She managed to scrounge up food on her own without cooking it, secretly. She didn't eat much of the meals that made her so sick every time. She was so upset of not hearing anything from her mom, she wasn't allowed to use the computer without being supervised and her brother wasn't home to sneakily teach her.

Lea took some things to her own hands, like cooking an entire meal for four people without help alone. No one seemed to ask where it came from and cared about thier own problems to compliment her cooking. She wasn't going to school like she should since no one was taking her or remembering to. Locked in the house, she taught herself to use the coffee machine, laundry machine, clothes drier (sort of) and the computer.

She managed to turn the computer and navigate buttons. She however couldn't work out passwords or to read some the pop ups. She was smart to click x on everything she felt unsafe.

Yeah, she was sent without dinner that night for using the computer. Gladly the same night the police returned her brother and he was grounded in his room. A lot of screaming at each other which had to much turth about it all. Lea isn't dumb and fanes ignorance for the sake of appearing her age. That night of them arguing answered a lot about what was wrong with the Fallown family from the perspective of untalented or lacking the gifts.

It is this; Fallowns were a lost blood of Seers. They all know this and scorn the blood of Seer folks that were the rich top people the estranged them. Every first born of each generation was a misfortune or a mistake. Always for Fallowns did having children were put into near death poverty at many times. Importantly who Lea consider her brother was actually her first born cousin whom had the bad luck. He originally was a wanted child but the man made him ran away in fear. That her aunt was unprepared to look after her first child without support and made other questionable chooses in young life. Although this doesn't seem the full truth, even Lea can tell at the heat of the moment. Things about what her aunt screams about werent making story sense. Whatever the turth unfiltered may had been, they locked each other in separate rooms.

Even her uncle, a new man to her aunts life, slept on the coach that night. The man knew trouble well. It took poor Lea to explain what she did witnessed about that fight. The morning came of her uncle watching her work the coffee maker like a expert while speaking of hot topic. He stuck around at watching her cook egg breakfast for everyone and praised her for it. He helped improving the egg breaking technique. Her aunt was displease a child cooked her food, assuming Lea didn't follow normal hygienic practices. Gladly both men corrects her aunt in such things. Even at pointing out the laundry was washed, dried and folded by her. That she couldn't reach to hang stuff, leading to some accidents of shrinking clothing. She learnt from the mistake on first try but wasn't able to still hang anything which was why those things aren't washed anymore often.

Her brother adding into the conversation asked about her schooling and why no one was able to take her to her bus. That She wouldn't be allowed to walk the streets to her school bus. Her aunt turned pale failing one of four things she promised her sister. She failed at feeding Lea too. Gladly the girl was independent to have showers without help of anyone and go to bed decent enough. Her brother simply was making this a dig. Poking a hornet nest with that tone.

Gladly before the next scream match was to happen, the door was knocked on and answered by her uncle. He closed the front door behind him quickly and was heard bad mouthing this guest. Her aunt went to help with this. Her brother takes Lea to hide themselves together in a closet. Protecting them. She had flash backs of how she was kidnapped in preschool, soon crying in her brothers arms at fear. All he can do was comfort and pray.

The stranger entered the house for some reason, and as decoy her brother left her hidden better. He changed hiding places or had some other clever plans. She can heard the voices muffled. She cries as quietly as she can. The stranger took her brother. Her aunt was a clever woman or quick thinker. Asked if there was anymore children. She replies 'I don't have any other children'. The stranger is gone. It was for the best that Lea hide from her uncle and aunt until mom was back. Afraid that they give her to the stranger that took her brother.

A night sleeping in her shared closet. That morning she woke up extra earlier to make the coffee up and steal food. Back to sleep for the main day. Out from hiding for dinner long after bed time. Making the coffee marker up now for later, as in sets the timer for it to brew automatically. She ate what she can reach, finding a box of cheese crackers to munch. She barely stays awake hoping for her mom. That she can't keep this way.

The front door was unlocked mid morning the coffee marker was mid brew. A sound of suitcase rolls. Even still Lea was terrified of revealing herself. The door closed. Her mothers voice sung a strange song that broke her aunt and uncle out of the werid silence since Lea's brother was taken. Her aunt sobbing about being threatened to the inch of their lives and giving up her first born to a group of clean suits that had no business in a poor living area of the state. Her uncle break the news they don't know where Lea was and that his step son was taken. That news made a strange quirky English man demanded that they call the police. The sheer shock of her sister bringing home a stranger to her house. It was mounting a bigger list of stress.

Lea decided to take chance, getting out of hiding and crawl peering in check of this being her mother. The sheer terror and fear melted with knocked herself into her mother's legs. Sobbing considerable for the next 2 hours and unable to use words to tell everything. The worse for this month is over, but it was looking nicer in a wet country over the pond.

The English man will be staying around a whole month over here. He had other American people to go see but taking mom home was important to him. Worrying that she get lost in the airports again, she apparently did over there.