Monsters & Fairytales

   
Rebecca
Suzanne

Monsters

&

Fairytales

A Novel By
:

Rebecca
S
uzanne

In Loving Dedication:

My son, Vincent William - Heaven’s toughest Guardian Angel

My son, Nathan Daniel - my right hand man

My puppy, Duchess - happiness in a furry envelope

Special Thanks:

A friend that made this grammatically correct -

Sabrina Bourque

And Especially:

My haters – for allowing me to prove you all wrong

((
just
kidding, I love you guys))

I tried to breathe, I wanted to breathe.
Someone kept yelling at me to do it, but I couldn’t.
I didn’t understand.
I saw her face and I felt my insides scream out.
I wanted to touch her again.
Mom, help me. I don’t know what’s happening.
The voices again, they told me to breathe.
I wanted to.

Table of Contents

Prologue
…………………………………………....…...
5

You’ve Got
To
Be Kidding Me …………………….…. 26

What’s Going on ………………….……………….….. 51

I’ll Make It
Up
To You ………………………….……. 70

Okay, Enough
Of
That ………………………….…….. 86

What Do You Mean, What Do I Mean ……...….…..... 108

This Is Awkward ……………………………...….….. 139

Somebody Pinch Me …………………...……………. 159

You Have To Be More Specific Than That …
....…......
185

As You So Wish
……………………….….…......…...
199

That’s Called Anger
…………….
..
…......…….............
219

What Else Is There
…………....…….....…....…….......
234

It’s As Good Of A Time As Any
……....….....…..…...
250

It’s Worth
A
Shot …………………….….......…...….. 263

What Do We Do Now
……………….………....…......
288

This Is
The Way It’s Meant To
Be ….….…….…...….. 311

So It Seems
………………………….…..…..……......
336

Who Said Anything
About
Love ….…...…….....…….. 358

Just Once ……………………….……………………. 369

Love Conquers All …………….…………………….. 387

This Can’t Be It
……………….………………...…....
407

The End …………………………………………….... 424

Epilogue
……………………………………...……....
438

Prologue

Of course, yes, it couldn’t get any better. Of course I had to go to the park with Spike and try to meet new people. Of course that cute guy, the one that knew I was watching him and not his four other friends, had to throw the Frisbee towards me to make Spike chase it. Of course it worked and Spike lunged for it, thus knocking me over into the fountain. And of course, alas, poor helpless Mirabelle had to nearly drown in front of the entire park and have an ambulance come to help. 
             
                                                                   

Today was certainly a perfect day to meet people. I opened my eyes to tons of them staring at me as if I were the crazy one. I guess it didn’t help I had to roll over and throw up in front of all of them. Well, technically, the water was escaping my lungs instead of my stomach. Was it in my stomach? Wherever it came from, it burned.
             

The EMTs insisted I went with them in the ambulance to get checked at the hospital. I insisted that I was fine. I didn’t have insurance. Not that I couldn’t afford the coverage, but that was the part I didn’t want to deal with. No one ever believed that a girl like me had the money I claimed in these situations.

So while I tried to shake the dizziness, everyone at the park had to hear my argument with the EMTs. Why couldn’t they just accept it and leave me alone. They’ve ruined my day. I was never coming back here. What a great fresh new start to my fresh new life.
             

When the ambulance left, I rushed off with Spike. My head was hung lower than his. Staring down, I saw the blue drops on my white shirt. That wasn’t really my concern, because after looking at the drops, I realized my bra was showing through. This could only mean everyone else had to have seen it as well. Yes, why wouldn’t I have on a white shirt and a lime green checkered bra that matched my bandana? And now there was teal hair dye dripping all over the shirt. It probably soaked through my bandana, too. This was the best day ever. Now my dog and I were trudging back to our brand new apartment alone, without any new friends, soaking wet and completely embarrassed.

The people here had to think of me more a freak than they would have ever thought all on their own. It sort of helped that Spike felt guilty, to be honest. I saw that he was walking like he was injured, but I knew he wasn’t hurt. Well he wasn’t physically hurt, just emotionally. He was feeding off of my emotions. I had just nearly died; I couldn’t really be the most positive person for him right now. I should have known better though. This whole idea was a disaster waiting to happen. I deserved this.

We made it to the streetlight and I pressed the button on the light post for the cross walk. I knew that it wouldn’t help, but I leaned against the pole
and constantly clicked the button as fast as I could. I just wanted the light to change and get me as far away from here as possible. No, actually, I just wanted to melt away into the post and disappear.
             

It was very cold against my wet cheek. I felt a slight chill. Spike started growling. Maybe my chill wasn’t from the cold? I looked around but couldn’t see anything that would cause Spike to go into protective mode. Was I blind?

“Hush, Spike.”

I tugged his leash a little. As much as I wanted him to do his job, I could feel that the people were still staring at us. He was giving them more of an excuse to gawk other than the spectacle they had just witnessed on our behalf.

I bet none of them had even moved at all, just their heads to follow us. I would even bet that that guy was still there, too. He was the first one I saw when I opened my eyes. I forced my eyes closed instantly to push that image out of my head.

With my eyes closed, I could hear Spike was still barking. Didn’t he get that I
really
didn’t want any more attention.
I get it, you’re intimidating. Whatever is causing you to feel threatened, it got the hint. Stop, please.
I yanked one more time and hissed at him. He obeyed finally and cowered back to his whimpering stance.

Satisfied, I looked up to check the
status of the cross walk
. It had changed on us. The orange hand was flashing, counting down the seconds we had left to cross. I must have missed the white, ‘okay’ while Spike was playing guard dog. I looked both ways then rushed us across the street. As we stepped back onto the sidewalk, Spike really lost it. He was going crazy. It was hard to contain him enough when I was feeling well, but now he was practically dragging me.
Really?
What was with him?
             

“Spike!
C’mon!” I pleaded.

He was trying to scour the wall like a ninja or something. I looked up to where he was trying to get at, but I saw nothing. There was nothing there. No human. No big giant monster. No thief. There were some black feathers falling down from the ledge a few levels up; must’ve been birds. He wouldn’t go that ballistic over birds, though. Maybe the birds scattered from him but he was after something else?
             

To be sure our lives weren’t honestly in danger from something three levels up, I stepped back a couple of steps and poked my head around the back of the building. The morning sun blinded me. I couldn’t see anything in the seconds between vision and black. There were just tons of spots in my eyes now. I tried to blink them away so I could see.
             

I started laughing. That was not the smartest thing I had done this morning. It helped that Spike was staring at me as if I were the crazy one. This dog was really something else. At least he was calm. Whatever it was, it wasn’t anything I needed to worry about anymore. 
             

We carried on around to the front of the apartment building like two peas in a pod about to get boiled in a pot. Well, at least I was, since I was dripping wet.
He was just the
unripened
pea, or something else that goes along with what I was saying. I sucked at metaphors.
             

At least the streets were empty so no one could see me pondering my thoughts and not paying attention to where I was going. I managed not to fall though, somehow. I guess it was irony. God would never put me in an embarrassing situation with no one to witness it.
             

Maybe I was in for less now. This side of town was less populated than I was used to. It was different, quiet. I didn’t mind quiet really. It allowed me to not have to bump into anyone and force conversations. All my old neighbors just wanted to talk about my mom, Rida.
             

Her face flashed in my head. I felt my heart drop. I reached for the handle to the building’s lobby and turned it. I wanted to get inside and cry in the middle of my bed, all dramatic like. The door wasn’t moving, though. Spike sat down and started looking around. Did he know something I didn’t? I fiddled with the door a bit more, begging for it to just open. I pushed and pulled, but it wasn’t moving an inch. What was I forgetting? The handle was moving in complete rotation. Was I turning it the wrong way?
             

Please, I just wanted to go inside and disappear from the world. I was feeling light headed. I really should have gone to the hospital. I rested my head against the frosted glass center of the door and closed my eyes. Can something just go right today? Please? There was release on the door, and then I was falling... on my face.
Was
this really happening?  Did someone really yank the door open while I was hoping for a better day?

I tried to get a grip, but my shoes slipped in the puddle I had created below me. I fell completely through the now open doorway like jelly. Spike scampered away to avoid going down with me. I was alone. It was only perfect. It seems as though there were more perfect places for perfect opportunities to make a perfect fool of myself. Thanks, God. You’re the best.

I hit the floor and it echoed with a sickening thud up the lobby. Holding myself stiff on my forearms, it went silent. The only sound I could hear was the person behind me, still standing there, breathing heavily. Either they were in a hurry or they were staring at me with such awe that they weren’t focused on their breathing.