Change

I have walked into a whole new life, a life that seems to good to be true and too true to be perfect. Tiger, my little brother began climbing on the dashboard, in search of his new toy that Grandma knitted him last Christmas. Mum came bustling into the car with boxes of old ‘junk’ that Dad brought us years ago. As the ‘junk’ entered the car, flashbacks of old sickening memories began flooding into my mind all at once. 

I can remember when we used to argue with Mum every night, when they thought that Tiger and I were tucked up in bed. We could hear the China plates crashing against the wall viciously. The broken pieces began to make crackling sounds as they reached the ground within seconds. Once, we saw Dad, hurling mum up against the wall, with a sharp blade the size of a saw. His long, thick hands were around her neck as she struggled to break free. Bill and Lisa, our neighbours must of seen what was going on through the window as the police were round within minutes. Dad remains silent. His green eyes focusing in the empty space. He was handcuffed and ushered away into the Police car. From that day on, nobody never mentioned his name as if he never existed. ”You feeling ‘alright pet”, asked mum in her usual chirpy tone. I nodded my head and cranked up the volume on the radio and began singing to the Abba song. 

As we were on the motorway, I looked out of the wing mirror to see a strange looking car at the back of us. Every corner we turned down, the car was behind us as if it were trying to find out where we were going. Mum followed my glance, only to notice the same thing. We decided to stop near a large cornfield, to see if the car would drive past us, but to our disbelief, it pulled up right behind us. A tall looking man with dark hair and sea green eyes came out of his car and briskly walked towards us suspiciously. As he came closer, we realised who it was. 

For a second, everything seemed to pause around me as my mind asked me the question, ‘What is freedom’? The only answer I could give back was, ‘I don’t know’.