Seren laid in their bed. They hadn’t the energy or strength to get out of it. No matter how hard their dad begged and bribed.

“Still feeling down?” He asked, peeking into their curtain. Seren rolled over to avoid looking at him. “Honey, it's okay. It’s not the end of the world. We have enough to last us a while.” He came and sat next to them on their bed.

“That’s not the point.” Seren sniffled as they began to cry all over again.

“Who cares what he thinks?” Their dad said, putting a hand on their shoulder. “It shouldn’t matter.”

“It does! He thought I wasn’t trash. He was the first person to look me in the eyes without pity! And I ruined it. I am trash.”

“No. You are not.” Their dad snapped. He turned them around to look at them. “If he can’t see how amazing you are then he’s not looking hard enough.” Seren stared at their dad for a minute before curling up to let him hold them.

“I feel like trash.” Seren said.

“But you aren’t. I promise you aren’t.” Their dad said. Before he could continue, there was a knock on the front door. Seren sighed and got off their dad so he could answer it but he pulled them back.

“Aren’t you going to answer it?” Seren asked, not making an effort to let their dad up.

“No.” Their dad said quietly, squeezing them a little. “They can come back.” Seren nodded and relaxed again. Again, the knocker rapped on the door. A little faster this time.

“What if it’s important?” Seren whispered, looking up at their dad.

“Then they will come back,” their dad whispered back. That didn’t ease Seren’s anxiety.

“Serenity, I can see the lights, I know your home!” Mrs. Houper called from the front door. Seren froze.

“Uh oh,” Seren whispered. They scrambled to get up, “sorry!” They ran to the front door. Quickly rubbing their face and taking a deep breath before opening the door.

“Sorry,” Seren said again. Mrs. Hooper smiled and shook her head.

“I understand, it’s early.” She said, “Good morning,” she waved to Seren’s dad as he came out from the curtain and approached the door.

“I’m sorry to bother you both, but your services are needed today.” She said to Seren, surprising them.

“But I thought…” They started.

“I know, and I certainly understand if you refuse.” Mrs. Houper said. Seren paused and looked at their dad who shook his head no. They thought about their options.

“Okay, let me get dressed and I’ll be over.” Seren said.

“Let me give you a ride,” Mrs. Houper said. “Least I can do for bothering you so early on your day off.”

“That’s not necessary, I don’t mind walking.” Seren said. Not wanting to sit in a confined space with Mrs. Houper for however long the duration was. Seren rathered the walk to clear their mind.

“Are you sure?” She asked.

“Yeah, it’s fine.” Seren said with the most confident smile they could muster.

“If you're sure,” Mrs. Houper said. Looking at Seren’s dad for reassurance, but he shrugged with nothing to offer. “Well, all right then.” Mrs. Houper said, slowly backing away from the door. Seren waved and waited for her to get to the end of their short walk before shutting the door.

“You don’t have to,” their dad said. Pulling them into a hug. “You can say no,”

“I can’t though.” Seren said, trying not to squeeze too tightly. “I can’t go back to the way it was. Maybe if I work really hard here and now, I can get a better job that pays us better so we can get a real house. One with walls and working plumbing.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“That’s not your responsibility,” their dad said.

“If it’s not mine, then whose is it?” they asked. Their dad went silent and held them tighter.

“I… I have to go.” Seren said, pulling away. “And then we can do something fun tomorrow. Like go out to eat or go shopping.”

“Okay.” Their dad whispered. He pried his arms off from them and Seren smiled at him. They ran into their room and dug through for clean daytime clothes.

They pulled on their boots and ran out to the living room. Diving into their fathers arms and hugging him tightly.

“I’m off! I’ll be back soon!” Seren said cheerfully and they ran out the door and into the morning cold. Their dad watched them go before closing the front door and leaning against the closed door. Sliding down to the ground. The room was spinning. His head was pounding. Feeling like his eyes were going to pop out of his skull. He covered his face but it didn’t alleviate the migraine or the sensation of spinning. He frantically tried to recall if he took his medication, he felt like he would throw up. Even more so when he uncovered his eyes or tried to sit up.

Seren ran all the way to the Summer district. The cold stinging their face and making their eyes water. They slid to a stop in front of Mr. Asche’s house. Their feet flying out from under them and planting them onto their ass. All the air in their lungs was released in a large mist cloud.

They stood up, holding their bruised tailbone and hobbling up the stairs. Seren shook out the cold and rang the doorbell. Mrs. Houper opened the door in a bit of shock.

“Goodness, you are quick.” She said and let Seren in. “Mr. Asche is up in the study. He’ll need you up there today.”

“Oh, okay.” Seren said unsurely as they removed their shoes. “What’ll I be doing?”

“He’ll let you know more once you get up there, but I think it’ll be mostly office work.” Mrs. Houper said, moving Seren’s shoes into the closet. “You’ll be here a while.” Seren felt their heart drop to their feet.

“How long?” They asked.

“As long as the work day is,” Mrs. Houper sighed. “Up you scoot, the first appointment is at seven.” Seren looked at the grandfather clock, it read 6:47. Seren nodded and ran up the stairs. They slowed to a stop and tried to reclaim their breath on the third floor.

“Can you go away!?” Mr. Asche snapped from inside the study. Seren stepped back in shock.

“No, I don’t think I will…” A second voice said slowly. Seren felt their heart jump up into their throat, the first appointment was at seven, was it early?

“Gotta say, I didn’t think you’d call that kid back. Thought you fired them.”

“If you could just leave me alone for a single day, maybe I could think clearly enough to do my job!” Mr. Asche grumbled. Seren stepped closer and listened at the door.

“I don’t want you to do your job. Thought that was clear.”

“And you’re just going to haunt me every day until my job doesn’t exist anymore?”

“That or you manage to cleanse your soul but I don’t have much faith in that.”

“And how would I go about doing that?” Mr. Asche asked tiredly.

“I don’t know. Your soul, not mine.”

“You’re useless. As useless in death as you were in life.”

Seren hesitantly knocked on the door. Not sure what they were hearing and deciding to take their chances interrupting than being caught eavesdropping.

“Come in!” Mr. Asche snapped. Seren opened the door and found him sitting at his desk, but the rest of the room was vacant.

“About time you showed up.” Mr. Asche said, fiddling with folders and binders.

“Who were you talking to?” Seren asked, walking into the study and looking for the other person.

“No one,” Mr. Asche said impatiently. “Come over here and show me your penmanship.”

“Oh,” Seren said, shutting the door behind them. Still looking for the other voice. "I could have sworn I heard someone else in here." They reached the desk and finally looked back at Mr. Asche. He'd stopped messing with his papers and was staring at them in alarm.

“You heard him?” He asked.

“Yes?” Seren asked, looking around again for this ‘him’.

“You. Heard. Him?” He turned his chair and gave Seren his undivided attention.

“Yes?” Seren repeated, feeling the heat of the spotlight they were under. The speaker hissed.

“Sir, your seven o’clock has arrived.” Mrs. Houper said through the intercom.

“Send him up.” Mr. Asche pressed the button without breaking eye contact. He released the button. “We’ll discuss this later.” He handed Seren a clipboard and a pen.

“Can you write? Write legibly; ‘The Quick Brown Fox Jumped Over The Lazy Dog’.” Seren wrote as clearly and quickly as they could.

“Is that as fast as you can go?” Mr. Asche asked. Seren hurried and held the clipboard out to him. He took it and sighed.

“Your lack of education is becoming quite the hurdle.” He said,

“I’ve done my best,” Seren planted their hands on their hips.

“You could do better.” He said without sympathy. “But it is what it is. So just write as little as you can to still be understandable. Write down; seven o’clock appt. I’ll write a quick key for you to use and what they will mean. Keep your numbers straight.” Seren nodded as they took back the clipboard, now with more blank paper.