Her father murdered her mother right in front of her. Of course that left traumatic scars.

But in her quest for revenge, she discovers nothing about her life matches her beliefs.

Confronted with the choice, revenge or truth, she must decide what she is willing to lose…

A very short dark fantasy about that moment when your childhood paradigm shatters—and how you move on through the fallout.

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What Blood Can Do

Eight years ago, my father slaughtered my mother. He tied her down on the dining table with guy ropes and slit her throat with the bread knife. It wasn’t sharp. There was so much blood I thought it would never stop.

I screamed. 

I thought I’d never stop. 

My father left me there, ten years old and elbow deep in the pulsing river of my mother’s life. He told me he was sorry. My fingers burned to use the knife on him. With blood tingling over my skin, I swore I’d have my revenge. 

I called the cops, of course; I was ten, not stupid. I told them what I’d seen, and they bounced me along the foster-care chain after booking me appointments with Phyllis. She gave me lollipops and sympathetic glances over her gold-wired glasses. It didn’t help. I had to see her, though, until at last I promised I was starting to heal.

I lied.