“...do not throw your pearls before swine....” Matthew 7:6.

The bus trundled along down the twisting, rural, road. Its yellow color and flashing lights are a constant annoyance to most other drivers on the road, the unintelligible chatter within an annoyance to the bus driver. Children of varied ages were letting off steam after a long day in the “Dungeon” or so the children called St Pious the X’s Catholic High School here in Black Canyon, Pennsylvania. Some children were venting their frustration by drawing pictures of their teachers inside their notebooks with horns on their heads and tails protruding from behind. Others were talking about sports or how gross or attractive, depending on their age, that the opposite sex was. Some kids were on their phones either texting, or watching movies, or taking selfies. There wasn’t a shut mouth or phone on the bus save for one child. In the back of the bus, fifth seat from the rear on the left, sat a girl of about thirteen years old. She had long blond hair and glasses, she would have been very pretty had she been allowed to wear makeup, of this she was very certain, but her parents wouldn‘t allow her until she was sixteen. She sat alone, which appeared to be fine by her for she was lost in the pages of a book about a Knight who rescued a Fair Lady from captivity in a tower. She always had her nose in a book, which might make her seem like an ideal student, except that it wasn’t textbooks that were constantly in her hands. She delved as much as she could into one world of fantasy or another.

The name on her birth certificate was Alianna Renee Oaksen and she was currently in the seventh grade. Now, some called her Ali Ali Oxen Free, others named her Ali Waly; such are the labels given by those who find pleasure in deriving humorous alterations to someone’s name. She never showed any outward sign that these taunts affected her, however, as anyone who has been taunted knows, you wouldn’t be human if it didn’t hurt you. She hid the hurt by pushing further and further into the fantasy worlds that were contained in her books. They were her refuge, a place where only she could go, and the names that they called her couldn’t follow.

There had been no such name calling, no phone cameras recording it, so far on this ride home. This was such an odd occurrence that curiosity got the better of her and she tore her eyes from the words on the page and looked up over the rim of her book to see what wondrous thing had distracted the others from their favorite pastime of amusing themselves at her cost.

She saw that the kids in her immediate area were looking at a seat that was a little ahead of her to the right. She could just see the left side of a boy’s head. He was sitting quietly by himself, his head bowed as though he too were reading. He had dark hair and she could just see the arm of a pair of glasses bouncing up and down as one of the Eighth graders, Stephen Pennington, started flicking the boy’s earlobe, the boy next to him named Pete was recording it on his phone. This seemed to bring a lot of enjoyment to those looking on.

She wracked her brain for the boy’s name. “Jarus, Jass, Jaius, that was it. What were Stephen, Pete, and Jaius doing on our bus?” Those boys, along with a few other new faces, had never gone home on her bus before. “Oh yeah, my mom said they had cut back on the number of buses for our school to save money.” She felt herself relax somewhat as she turned back to her book. Soon a feeling of relief began to flow through her, bordering on happiness. Someone else was being picked on on this bus. Perhaps they would leave her alone now, but following along behind these good feelings she felt was a burning, sickening wave of guilt. “How can I wish this on anyone else, just to have it taken off me.” she thought to herself. “But then how can I keep going on with this for the next three years until I can drive.” She locked her eyes on the page she had been reading. Tears started to trickle from them, and so she raised the book more so that it blocked her face from anyone seeing. She would love to have said that she cried for the boy, empathize with him for the humiliation he was going through, but the war between joy and guilt that now waged inside her was too much. As she struggled with these emotions a shadow fell over her.

“Aawww…” drawled the owner of this shadow. She didn’t have to look up, to know who it was. Trudi Bellows was a tall, large girl, with hair that was neither blond or brown, but some hideous color that was in between. She was a year ahead of Alianna. . She wasn’t very pretty, her hair was always tangled and her face looked like a brail board with all the pimples that dotted it. You might wonder how, given all of this, that Trudi was not the one that got picked on? Well for starters she was tough and imposing, she also had a twin sister who was neither ugly nor tough, but was one of the prettiest girls at St. Pious. Her name was Keri.

Keri Bellows had silky black hair that came down to her shoulders. She looked like a future supermodel. She was seated, as always, in the back left corner of the bus reading one of her textbooks. She sat lazily nuzzled into the curved wall of the bus as if it were a throne, which for her position as she was the Queen of the Middle School, captain of the Cheer team, eighth grade class president, at the top of this rung of this particular scholastic social ladder. Unlike those girls who were typical of her kind, normally too concerned with their looks to worry about their grades, Keri was the top student in her class. She used both her mind and looks to get what she wanted. Trudi and Keri were as different as night to day. There was one thing , however, that the twins shared; a need to make Alianna’s life as miserable as they could.

“Hey Mandy.” Amanda Ferlon’s red hair flashed as she turned quickly to look at Trudi.

“What’s up Tru?”

“You better tell Steve to quit picking on Pious Jaius, cause it's upsetting his girlfriend Ali Waly.” She said as though she were chiding Mandy and her friends. Keri smiled an evil smile, but kept reading her text book.

“Hey Steve I guess you better stop flicking Pious’s ears, your making his girlfriend mad.” Said Mandy with a pout on her face and defeat in her voice, which was immediately followed by shrill laughter, and soon the others joined in.

Alianna knew she shouldn’t have looked up. If she had just sat there and done nothing she might have actually made it home without anything happening to her. She quickly tried to escape back into her book, but Trudi was far from through with her. Before she could react the book was ripped from her grasp. Alianna stood and turned to face her tormentor.

“Give me back my book!” she said, her voice breaking somewhat. Trudi was about to respond when a soft, but firm, voice came from the corner.

“Trudi, let us see what she has been reading shall we?” Said Keri. Trudi nodded and walked the book back to her. Keri took the book from her sister’s hands, opened it, and started flipping pages. Alianna knew she was looking for something nice and juicy to use against her. She jumped up and ran at Keri. She reached out to grab the book, but Trudi was able to grab Alianna by the arms. She pulled her into the seat across from Keri and held her fast.

“What has Ali Waly been reading about sis?” asked Trudi, as she leaned over Alianna’s shoulder to get a better look. The movement made Trudi shift her grip, which allowed Alianna just a brief moment to free herself. She squirmed free and lunged across the aisle at Keri, but Trudi was faster then she looked and was able to grab Alianna again. Trudi gave her a very nasty look and tossed her into the seat in front of hers. A new pair of hands grabbed a hold of Alianna.

“It’s not polite to grab at other peoples things Ali Waly!” The sound of this new voice gripped her heart like an ice cold hand. It was Alison Trendale. It was because of her that they started calling her Ali Waly. It used to be a game between them, when they had been as close as sisters. One had been Ali Waly and the other Ali Sally. They would switch names every time they switched diaries. It was a game to try to remember who had which nickname throughout the year. They were never able to remember, however, without looking at who had which name because they would constantly switch between each one for each other throughout the year. There was a sticker covering the nicknames at the beginning of each diary. When the Diary's were full they would make a guess as to who had which name at the start of the year, then they would open the covers to see if they were correct. Now though, she was pretty sure that the mystery of the last time they started new diaries would never be revealed as Alison still had her diary and she had hers and she couldn’t bring herself to open it, even to solve the mystery. The memory of the second worst day of her life came flooding to the front of her thoughts.

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Alison used to be her best friend, since they were five years old they were always together. Their parents both called them Ali, and so they had started the Ali Club and only those whose names started with A-L-I could be in it, needless to say the membership included only themselves, but that was perfectly fine with them. They had even had a clubhouse. It wasn’t the traditional shack set up in a tree, but was merely a tree by itself. In Alianna’s back yard there was a large pine tree that had lost all the bottom branches in the front part of it. Which made an opening almost like a cave. Alison and her would spend hours there, reading books, or acting out scenes from movies.

Near the end of their sixth grade year however, Keri had pulled Alison aside in the hall between classes. Alianna had stopped with her, but Trudi stepped in front of Alianna. “Keri only wants to talk to Alison, you can keep going on to class.” Alison had mouthed to her that it would be ok. Alianna gave her friend a worried look, but went on to study hall, trying to figure out what was going on.

Something definitely seemed strange when Alison arrived at study hall. Normally she would wave at Alianna, or make some weird face at her that always made her laugh. This time, however, when she came in she did neither. She did have a smile on her face though. Alianna was about to wave at her when, instead of coming over to sit with her, Alison went to sit next to Tiffany Lockman, one of Keri Bellows wannabe‘s. She handed her a note, and waited for her to read it. Tiffany read the note and then looked at Alison and smiled. They leaned their heads together and started whispering about something. Then they tapped their iPhones together. “Where did she get an iPhone from?”. Alianna’s mouth dropped open. Tiffany and Alison were both smiling now.

Thinking that Ali must have gotten some good news, Alianna grabbed her stuff and went to sit by them. Not having a cell phone of her own Alianna pulled out a small piece of paper and wrote a short note asking Alison what happened, and if everything was ok.

She then folded it neatly and stretched her arms back over her head as if she were yawning and dropped it. After a few seconds she heard the paper being unfolded and pretended to study her math while she waited for the reply. A few minutes later Alison dropped her reply into Alianna’s bag. Alianna waited a few moments and then reached in to get it. She opened it and read what Alison had written.

“Everything’s ok Ali, in fact its great! Keri told me that I could sit at their table with them at lunch, and hang out with them after school. She also said I could try out for

the cheerleading squad. I am soooooo excited!”

Alianna smiled and felt really happy for her friend. She wrote back and told her how great that was. She also asked if she could sit with them too. She heard Tiffany make a brief laughing noise. A few minutes later a note was again deposited in her bag. She opened it and all that was on it was the word

“Sure”

There was a small smiley face under the word, and that was all that was on the note. Something had seemed odd about such a short response, but Alianna just put it from her mind, and pretended to study math, all the while imagining how cool it would be to sit at Keri’s table.

The bell rang for lunch, and Alianna had hardly been able to contain her excitement. She followed behind Alison and Tiffany. She listened to their discussion of a certain rock star who they both liked, but Alianna had never heard of before. Not wanting to sound ignorant, she just walked along behind them and listened.

A few short minutes later they were walking over to Keri’s table. A few of the “in crowd” were sitting there already, but Keri, Trudi, and the other Eighth graders hadn’t arrived yet. Tiffany pointed Alison to a seat at the end of the table. Everyone had assigned seats at “The Table” and since she was new, Alison would have to sit at the end. Alison indicated to Tiffany that she didn’t have a problem with that. Tiffany smiled and then went down to her seat. Alison didn’t move, her eyes were locked on her new seat. After a minute or two she came back to the present and placed her bag in her chair. Seeing an empty seat across from hers Alianna placed her bag there. They then went to get in line to get their food. When they got to the line Alison turned to Alianna, a wide smile breaking on her face.

“Oh Ali, can you believe it, we’ve made it, we’re at the Table!”

“I know, I know,” She said, jumping up and down a little. She stopped quickly.

“What’s wrong”? said Alison

“Well, Keri invited you, not me, what if they tell me to leave?” Alison didn’t answer right away, which caused the sinking feeling to deepen. After what seemed like an eternity, Alison finally smiled and said.

“Well she didn’t say you couldn’t sit there either.”

She accepted this without noticing the forced way in which Alison said it, probably due to Alianna’s fanatical desire to sit at that table. She breathed a sigh of relief. “Your Mom’s gonna be so happy Ali, all she ever talks about is how much she loved being a cheerleader when she was in school.”

Alison practically beamed. “I know she is gonna flip out! All those years of gymnastics are going to pay off when I have my tryout this week.. Plus this summer, if I make it, I’ll finally get to go to camp with Keri and the rest of the team. You’ll be going too right.?”

Alianna forced a smile and nodded her head, but inside that pit in her stomach got deeper still. “I don’t know the first thing about cheerleading, and I’m pretty sure my parents can’t afford to send me to a camp. Oh, but how cool would it be to get on the team and get to hang out with Keri and her friends?”

Alison had been going to gymnastics since she was four. She had cheered in elementary school, but as everyone knows to get on the middle school squad you had to be part of Keri’s group, because Mrs. Bellows was the girls cheerleading coach. Alison’s Mom had been pressuring her to make friends with Keri, since the sixth grade.

Alianna on the other hand had been playing soccer since she was old enough to stand. Her parents had both been teaching her everything they knew. They had met at college during a scrimmage between the boys and girls varsity teams. Alianna loved running, loved the thrill of watching the ball go into the net. Deep down inside she knew that she would never be happy doing flips and jumping up and down, all the while watching others play the game. She had to be in the game, in the thick of the action, but she wanted to be part of Keri’s group so badly. “Bad enough to give up soccer?”

Before she knew it they were through the line, and headed back to the table. They usually sat at a table in the corner by themselves, which had always been OK with her, but as they walked toward Keri’s table she saw some of the other kids watching them. Some had looks of shock on their faces, some smiling, and others frowning, as they realized where the two of them were going. Alianna felt like she was a poor peasant girl who had just found out that she was really a princess and was walking down the aisle to receive her crown. This vision shattered when they got to the table. The rest of the group had arrived and Alison’s bag was still in her new seat, but Alianna’s stuff had been placed unceremoniously on the next table. Loti Brewster was sitting in the seat that she had put her bag on. She was the shortest girl in school, and one of only four Sixth graders at the table. Normally Sixth-graders were not automatically on the team, but her size made her the right choice, perfect to be tossed into the air and stand at the top of the pyramid. Loti looked up as they approached.

“Oh was that your stuff Alianna? I’m sorry but we all have our own seats here and this one is mine.” She then turned to Alison. “Welcome to Keri’s table Alison.” she said with a smile. Alianna looked helplessly at Alison, who bent down and whispered in her ear.

“It’ll be ok Ali, I’ll talk to Keri after lunch and I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if we added a chair at the end.” Holding on the slim hope that Alison had just offered her she nodded her head and went to sit where her bag was.

That night as they talked on the phone all Alianna could think about was whether Alison had asked Keri, and what she had said. Finally Alianna asked her what happened. And Alison made a noise “Oh my gosh I forgot, I am so sorry Ali, I’ll ask her tomorrow.”

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

For three days this went on, Alianna asking Alison had talked to Keri, and Alison slapping her head saying she had forgotten. Finally Alianna cornered her in line as they waited for their next class. When Alianna asked her the same thing she had been asking her for the past three days Alison turned around, a look of utter contempt upon her face.

“She said No!” bellowed Alison. “Now leave me alone, and stop following me around like some lost dog!” It had been as if Alison had stabbed her in the heart, she even remembered grabbing her chest as if she really had been stabbed. She staggered out of line, stumbled over her own feet, and fell hard on her backside. Laughter exploded around her. She had to get away from there. So she picked herself up and she ran, chased by the laughter of the kids in line, one very familiar laugh continuing to stab at her heart.

She headed for the Art room in the basement, trying to get as far away from them as she could. She thought she might find some comfort there, it was her favorite classroom, and she knew that no one had class in it at this time. Every year the senior class got to paint a mural on one of the walls or part of the floor. It was an amazing menagerie of pictures drawn from so many different places. On one wall there was an album cover of a band that most of that class had liked. Opposite that, a rendition of a favorite painting.

She burst into the room, thankfully no one else was in there. Mrs. Schafer must have been in the teachers’ lounge. She ran over to the corner and slumped down, pulling her knees up to her chest and buried her face in her arms. She sat there and cried, every day that she and Alison had spent together flying through her mind, each memory a scalpel cutting into her heart. Just as her tears began to subside a new vision of her an Alison would float before her and would start them anew. She stayed that way until Mrs. Schafer came back to the room. Mrs. Schafer hurried over to her and kept asking her what was wrong, but Alianna was lost in her tears and wouldn’t answer. Her mother arrived thirty minutes later and she too failed to get what had happened out of her, but Alianna did get up and leave with her. She cried all evening, not even stopping to tell her parents why, until right before she passed out from exhaustion. That had been the second worst day of her life, today seemed to be shaping up to be the third.

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Coming out of that horrible memory, the present flooding back into her mind, she felt something she was unaccustomed to boil up inside her, it was rage. She loathed Alison for abandoning her, and at the same time envied her because she got to be friends with Keri and her gang. These emotions had been building ever since that day and they finally boiled over.

“Give me back my book!” Shrieked Alianna so loudly, and shrilly that it cut through the maddening chatter on the rest of the bus. Everyone turned their heads and looked toward the source of the noise. Alianna could feel the cameras of nineteen smartphones capturing this whole horrible scene.

“What's going on back there?” Shouted the bus driver. Without missing a beat, Alison answered him. “Nothing Mr. Pellmen, we were just goofing around. We’ll be more careful. Sorry bout that.”

Alianna saw Keri nod in approval at Alison’s performance. She turned to see if maybe Mr. Pellman would come to her rescue. She could see his eyes looking up in the mirror over his seat, he almost seemed to be looking right at her. After a moment though, he turned his eyes back to the road. Frustration and embarrassment burned inside of her. Tears of rage started trickling from her eyes as she struggled to free herself from Alison’s grip. Just as she was about to break free, Trudi reached over the seat and grabbed her as well. Having used all her anger, she gave up and hung her head in defeat, her long blond hair covering her face. Mr. Pellman’s inaction seamed to break the silence, because behind her the chattering started again. Except this time she could hear her name coming from many different directions.

Through all of this Keri merely smiled as she flipped through the pages of the book. Halfway through the book her eyes lit with a happy glint. She cleared her voice, which apparently didn’t have the effect she had desired, because she gave Trudi a nod. Trudi stood up, with her ham-hands still pushing Alianna down into Alison’s seat. She shouted “Shut Up!” At this the immediate vicinity became quiet again as attention focused on Trudi. “I was just trying to quiet things down for ya, Mr Pellman.”

“Thank you Trudi, but I’ll handle the discipline on the bus. Sit down now.” he hollered back.

“Yes Sir.” She said, pretending to be dejected.

Seeing that the rest of the kids were still looking back at her, Keri knelt on the seat so that she could be seen more clearly. Keri cleared her throat again and started to read.

“They sat atop their horses, alone on the windswept hill.” She said in an overly dramatic way, waving her hand as if she were making the scene appear before them all in the air. “She closed her eyes as the cool evening breeze rushed across her face, the first breath of freedom that she had had in two years. She then stole a glance at the man next to her. He set atop a massive war horse, the last rays of the setting sun illuminating his face and armor. The rush of thankfulness she felt toward him for rescuing her, mixed with the exhilarating feeling of freedom, caused her to move her horse next to his. She reached up to tilt his face toward hers. Before he could protest, she pressed her lips against his and kissed him fervently.”

Alianna raised her head to glare at Keri Bellows. Those words flew through her like daggers. They had been the words that had caused her and Alison to both swoon and gag on at the same time. The pages that had them dreaming of knights in shining armor coming to rescue them from their tower prisons. Now they became the words of a nightmare.

Keri looked up and Alianna could see victory dancing in her eyes.

“Now Ali” sounding like Alianna was her dearest friend. “What are you doing reading this tawdry, second hand romance? Were you looking for tips on kissing? Perhaps in preparation for a date with your boyfriend, Oh what was his name…Ah yes, Jaius?”

At this Trudi started whistling and cat calling, and a boy from the sixth grade, who sat across from them, started chanting “Ali and Jaius sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage…” He stopped as Trudi glared at him. Just her stare was enough to make the boy flush red and then turn in his seat, sulking. In the ensuing silence Alianna looked at Keri with fire burning in her eyes. Keri met it with an ice cold stare of contempt. “Only my friends get to call me Ali.” Said Alianna through clenched teeth.

“I am very hurt Alianna…”. She said drawing out her name in a tone that made it seem like she was hurt. “…that you don’t consider me a friend and so went looking to some book for advice on this matter instead of coming to me. I would have been delighted to share with you all the wealth of knowledge I have on this subject” Keri actually, truly, sounded hurt. “Instead you turned to this….this trash!” She said waving the book, now she sounded angry, so much so that Alianna couldn’t tell if she truly was or not. Something turned putrid in her stomach, a brief thought flashed in her mind. “Could she have actually liked me? Could she really have wanted me to be in her group? Did I just mess up a possible friendship with her? I mean she was calling me Ali, and now she’s using my full name. Keri stared at Alianna, seeming to be expecting an answer. Lost in her confusion Alianna had none for her. After a few moments Keri shook her head and sighed. “I do this for your own good Alianna, perhaps next time you’ll come to me first.” Alianna started to believe that she really had messed up her chance to be in Keri’s group. She had no time to figure it out though, for something so terrible happened in that moment that it wiped these thoughts from her mind.

Keri motioned to Tiffany Lockman in the seat in front of her. She indicated Tiffany’s window and moved her hand in a downward motion. Tiffany reached up and opened it. Cool air wafted in. With a triumphant smile Keri flung the book out the window. Alianna watched in morbid fascination, as it cleared the window and floated back behind the bus. She strained against Alison and Trudi so that she could look out the back window to see where it went, hoping she could walk back and get it once she got off the bus. With all her strength she lurched forward, dragging both girls with her. She saw the book laying in the road. Hope bloomed insider her, she could get off an run back and get it. This hope was dashed by the car that was trailing them. It ran right over the book, sending pages flying off in every direction, borne away by the wind.

She couldn’t move, she sat frozen to the spot, mesmerized by the pages as they floated out of sight. Someone behind her gasped, and she felt one of the pairs of hands let go of her. This brought her out of her daze, and she turned her head to see Alison sitting there with her hands over her mouth. She was kneeling up on the seat, staring out the back of the bus. Her eyes were wide, and Alianna swore she saw tears starting to form. Those tears, the thought that her old friend was still in there, the friend that loved her family as much as she did, filled her with rage. “How dare she cry after what she did.” She drew back her open hand, ready to slap those tears right off her face, but then her action was interrupted.

The bus slowed down and pulled to a stop. The sudden deceleration had knocked Trudi off balance, and as Alianna grabbed the seat to keep from falling into the aisle, she could see a green house out the window. It was the landmark that told her when to get off the bus. Her anger at Alison dissipated. She was free, and her need to get out of there overcame all her anger and sorrow. She jumped up from Alison’s seat and ran back to the seat she had been in. She quickly grabbed her bag and ran as fast as she could down the aisle through a gauntlet of phone cameras. She flew out the door, just as the bus driver opened it. As soon as her feet hit the ground she started running as fast as she could away from that bus, and the Bellows twins.

She stopped at the end of the block and looked over her shoulder to make sure they were not following her. She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw that the bus had already headed on to the next stop, This truly was the third worst day of her life. She wiped at her eyes, turned, and walked back along the way she had come. A few minutes later she was standing over the demolished remains of her book. She bent down and picked up the mutilated cover. She could still read the title “The One for Whom She Waits.” She opened it and saw that most of the pages were gone, the spine had burst when the car ran over it. In the bottom corner of the inside cover there was something written in very neat penmanship.

“Happy Birthday to my Ali's, this book was mine when I was a girl. It was my favorite story, and I thought the both of you might enjoy it too. Never stop reading and dreaming my dears.

Love,

Nana

Tears blurred her vision, but hearing the faraway noise of a car approaching, she mechanically moved over to the side of the road and didn’t stop till she hit the round tubes of a small railing. She could hear the trickle of water flowing over some rocks and looked down, what was left of the book clutched to her chest. A small creek was running lazily into the distance. On either side of the water were trees that lined gently sloping banks. The railing was the only evidence of the large pipe that let the water flow under the road behind her. She stared out down the natural hallway that the creek cut through the trees, trying to see where it went, but she couldn’t see an end to it.

“Why did I bring this book with me today? It was so special to me, it is one of the few things I have left of her. Why did I bring it!” she screamed as she bent her head down and cried, her tears falling onto the ruined cover. She knew why. Today was the anniversary of the day her Nana had died. That had been the worst day of her life, the day her Nanna died. She had loved her Nanna more than anyone else besides her parents. Alison had always been there with her on this day. They would sit in their club house and talk about Nana together and all the good memories and it so helped them both get through this day every year, except this year. The year that Ali wasn’t there to help her through the grief. That was why she brought the book, to help her and Keri had trampled on it.

She had no idea how long she was leaning against that railing, no idea how many tears she shed, but her misery was broken by a very strong wind that came from nowhere and whipped her hair to the side, straight out from her head. She clutched the book tighter so as not to lose anymore of it. She was finding it hard to stand still, the wind was pushing her toward the end of the railing toward the slope that led down toward the creek. She fought it and just before she reached the end of the railing the wind stopped, as quickly as it came. She had little time to process this odd event as a screeching of tires behind her made her turn to see what had happened. She turned quickly and saw a familiar silver minivan stop just a few feet past her. The driver side door opened and out jumped her mother. Her mother’s eyes looked wild and she was screaming Alianna’s name as she ran up and threw her arms around her.

“Oh Ali,….My dear Ali, oh I thought something had happened.. I thought… oh I am so glad you’re ok.” Then her mom’s mood switched faster than a light switch being turned on. “What in the world were you thinking! You were supposed to be home an hour ago, I’ve been worried sick! I called the school, the police the hospital, what are you doing just standing here where anyone could come along and….. and what is poking me in the side!” She yelled as she pulled away and looked down at what Alianna was holding. Her eyes softened instantly, and soon understanding seemed to register on her face. “Oh Ali, what happened?”

Usually Alianna gave some made up reason when her mother asked her this, on the bad days when she came home crying. Today, however, reeling in pain, she found herself spilling the entire story, and only when she was finished did the true horror of what she had just done dawn on her.

“Oh really!” said her mother, anger flashing in her eyes. “Get in the car Alianna, I am going to have a word with these girls’ mothers, especially Alison’s.” Sheer terror gripped Alianna’s heart, there would be no refuge to be found in her books if her mother got involved. What they had done to her up till now would be like a day at the amusement park, compared to what they would do if she got them in trouble.

“Mom No, you… you can’t!” her fear was clear in every word. “It won’t do any good, it will just make it worse, please Mom, Please!”

Mrs. Oaksen looked very worried at the fright that she saw on her daughter’s face and so she nodded “Alright dear, but I want to know what has been going on, all of it. We’ll talk over ice cream. But, first let's see if we can find any of the pages from your book.” Her mom moved the car to the other side of the street, and they spent the next half hour looking.

By some miracle they found all but one page. It was the page that Keri had been reading from. A deep sinking hole of fear opened in Alianna’s stomach. “Keri couldn’t have taken it could she? What would she do with it?” She didn’t mention this to her mother, even more scared that she would actually call the Bellows house if she said anything.

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Later that night Alianna sat in her nightgown, her knees tucked into her chest. She was concealed on the staircase that led upstairs, right before the wall ended and the banister began. In front of her lay the front door, and off to the left was their living room. It was the nicest room in their house, a brick fireplace lay against the far wall, a long stone hearth in front of it. Two white hutches flanked it on either side. On them were pictures of her family members, weddings, and those who had passed on. A bay window opened out onto the street, with a pretty little loveseat in front of it. Opposite of it set a full sized couch, a pretty floral pattern covering both of them. A large picture of a stream flowing through the woods, as it passed an abandoned mill was set above the long couch. It was one of her favorite things. She has spent hours sitting on the love seat staring at it. You could see the stream disappearing into the distance, and she often wondered what lay there beyond what she could see in the picture.

Now there may be some who would give Alianna a strange look if she wondered this aloud to them. They might say to her “But my dear, it is only a painting, there is nothing beyond it”. And to this she would indeed answer them. “Yes there is, just because you can’t see the place dose not mean it isn’t there.” But the place unseen in the painting was far from her mind right now, for she was trying to hear what her parents discussed as they sat on the love seat, sipping glasses of wine. They did this every night before bed. It was their special time together. She could hear the popping of a fire in the fireplace. Her parents always lit a fire, even on nights, when one wasn't needed. She felt a sting of guilt when she realized that they were wasting this time talking about their concerns for her.

“Jonathan, is there no way for us to get a second car? If Marcie hadn’t been home and lent me her van, who knows what could have happened.” Said her mom, her voice shaking a little. She then heard her Father sigh.

“Emi, we’re just scraping by as it is…”

“Then I’ll get a job, part time…”

“And what about the twins? They’d have to go to daycare and anything you made would only be going to pay for that…”

Her mothers voice broke a little. “Jonathan yo… you didn’t see her face today, she was terrified! These…these monsters have been hurting my little girl for a whole year, and I can’t do a thing about it.” She heard her mom start to cry softly. “Oh, Jonathan, Alison has completely turned on her. She is in cahoots with these Bellows girls. Jonathan, I could literally hear her heart breaking…” her mom really began to cry.

“Shhh.. Emi it will be ok, we’ll figure something out.”

Alianna wiped a tear from her eye as she remembered even this morning all the frustration and resentment she had had with her mom when her mom had yelled at her for coming downstairs late. She had seen her mom holding a screaming Sarah, her little sister, in her arms when she finally came down the steps, and Simon her little brother, Sarah’s twin, smearing jelly all over the kitchen wall. Even though it should have been obvious why her mother had scolded her, at that moment, that morning, she had been too focused on her own pain to worry about her mother’s. She felt so bad at how she had yelled back at her mom. She definitely needed to apologize to her for that. She quietly got to her feet and tip-toed back upstairs. Another flight of stairs led up to the landing, then it was down the short hallway, past the bathroom, and then turning right at the twin's room she passed her parents room and finally made it to hers where she shut the door quietly. She didn’t want to go to bed, for as soon as she closed her eyes she would have to open them again and then she would have to face another day at the Dungeon. She picked up one of her books, and tried desperately to read it, but the events of today seemed to have barred her from entering the refuge that her books offered. She just couldn’t stop thinking about having to go to school tomorrow.

She felt so scared and alone. In her desperation she went over to her bookshelf and grabbed an old brown stuffed bear whose fur was sticking out at odd angles and missing in some places, and he was also missing an eye. These were not deformities, but battle scars. This was the courageous Mr. Bear, who had fought off the boogie man, and goblins, and vampires, and all of the monsters that had threatened her in the night when she was growing up. Surely he could defend her from the fiends that awaited her in the dungeon.

With Mr. Bear in her arms she crawled under the covers. She held him close, whispering to him as she had when she was little. Even with Mr. Bear, she still couldn’t fall asleep, she found herself staring at the door in the corner of the room, the one that led up to their attic. She used to think that every monster in the world knew how to get into her room through that door, and now she was starting to worry, because that same fear started to boil again in the pit of her stomach.

An hour later her bedroom door opened slightly as her Father looked in on her. Jonathan Oaksen was a tall man of strong build. He ran his hand through his sandy blond hair and sighed. “She hasn’t slept with that bear since she was ten, I have a mind to do what apparently these brat‘s parents have been unwilling to do, and take my belt to the whole lot.” He said, his hand reaching for his belt before he stopped himself. Sighing, he went quietly into her room and moved over to the bed. He gently kissed the top of her head. “Everything’s goanna be ok Ali.” And he then softly tip-toed out of the room and shut the door.

She had no words to describe the peace that flooded through her as her father kissed her on her head. He was so strong, she knew he could tear apart any monster that came her way. When he shut the door, out of no-where, she began to cry. The tears that fell down her face were not sad tears, but something more pure and healing. That kiss from her dad had opened the blockage in her heart. She felt safe now, Her daddy had told her it would be OK, and he never lied to her. Her Mom and Dad would set this whole mess in order.

She nuzzled Mr. Bear, and stared at the small sliver of light filtering in through the slightly opened door. Eyes glistening, Mr. Bear held tight, she whispered, “I love you Daddy.”