Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay
“Little Linette Booth, found herself lost in the woods, couldn't find her way no matter what path she took..”
I hated that name, despised it with a passion at the memory of how the other children taunted me...
“It must have been your father they were after that's why they blew up those buildings!”
“Your father was a bad man Linette! You should booth it out of here before they come for you next!”
I remembered wanting to strangle them during those times, but I could only watch as they cackled amongst themselves like the brats they were. It was hard enough that my mother would be forced to raise me all by herself after my father's death, but I never expected the truth behind it would be an even harder pill to swallow..
“Linny... The father you knew—he provided for us quite well but.. He isn't—wasn't your real father…”
And that's when I met him. He looked at me with his sharp green gaze, the same pair of greens that always looked back at me whenever I stared at my mirror for too long—unbeknownst to me, that moment would mark the life-changing events that occurred thereafter.
“Who.. is she..?” I asked the man who had introduced himself as my biological father as we silently watched the redheaded girl that played outside in the well-manicured garden.
“Your sister, Betty.” He had said it so matter-of-factly as he drank his coffee that I was surprised at his further explanation, “Unfortunately, she seems to have inherited her mother's... illness. Which makes you my prodigy.”
Putting his mug down as he raised his elbow on the desk where we sat, he went back to unnervingly staring at me behind his steepled hands before he started speaking further, “Your muddy brown hair has to go, but it's enough you have the same eyes.”
I doubted I could pass for the same lively girl that played outside with her two friends--one had pale blonde hair while the other had a head of black curls-- they were like a mock-up version of the Powerpuff Girls honestly.
“So what do you say, Linette? All you have to do is play nice for the time being.”
Would I go back to being Lost Little Linette? No. But I was also through with playing nice.