- May 6, 2005
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Hatred
Lisa sat on a tall, steep hill, almost a mountain, with her back to an ancient oak tree, and its back to a sharp drop off. It was a cold, autumn day, and she only wore a hood and jeans, nothing for this type of area. But even so, her face was red from the heat of her tears rolling down her cheeks. The rest of her was almost frozen.
This is all my brothers fault! She thought to herself. Them and their stupid pranks! If they hadnt died all my cloths PINK (pink, of all colors! They know I cant even touch it!) then I would never have gotten upset, and I would have never run out of that house, and I would never have come out into this blasted country side, and then I would never have gotten lost! Its all their fault! I hate them! I hate them! Her twin, 15 year old brothers had done this, and many other pranks within the last few weeks. They had died her cloths pink, which was her least favorite color to say the least. (Actually, she hated it, but still) Then they had switched out her chocolates, which she always needed to eat when she was stressed, with strawberries, her least favorite food in the world. She hadnt even looked when she had opened the chocolate-box lid and stuck one in her mouth. That was it. She burst through the door of her new home, running into the country side, never taking a glance back. Now she wished she had. She was lost.
So she sat there, in the freezing cold, moping. She wept for about an hour, and then took out her locket, which hung around her neck. It held a picture of her boyfriend. Or at least, he was her boyfriend. They had moved no more then a week ago, over seas, from New York to some odd little town in the Irish country side. She remembered the last conversation they had had before she left.
You sure you want move? Jim (her boy friend) had said.
I dont have a choice. She had replied sullenly. Why? You planning on hiding me under your bed or something?
Well its just I did some research of where youre going to live.
So?
Theres an old story around there. About this old Celtic warrior dude who used to have a farm around there. Story says that his family was burned alive in the farm, with him watching. Hatred consumed him, and he slew the men who had done it, then fifty others of the same lot. After that, he ran off back to the farm and into the hills and was never seen again. They say that now hes a ghost, and he preys on the spiteful. He leaned in, then whispered, They call him Hatred. He leaned back and nodded like he was trying to reassure himself. They both broke out laughing.
Puh! You sound like my grandpa! Do you think those old wives tales are going to scare me?
Who knows? Your gramps could be right. Theres still an empty space under my bed if youre interested. The laughing was refreshed. They knew that would never work. They had tried it when they were both in second grade, 7 years ago, when Lisa was upset and got yelled at for forgetting her backpack at school. They lived next door. And that was the first place her parents looked when she had been gone longer then she should have. Her parents
That was why they were moving, wasnt it? Her mother. She had died in the train bombings in London. Her father had bought her the tickets so that she could do what she had always wanted: Tour Europe. He hadnt been able to go with work, but he urged her to. He was moving so he wouldnt have to feel guilty. So he wouldnt have to remember her mother. If only he hadnt gotten the stupid tickets. Then her mother might be alive, and they would be a happy family, living in a big city like New York, and not without her in Ireland or Wales or Canada or wherever they were! She hated him too. She hated him more then she hated her brothers, strawberries, the country side, pink everything! Why did everything have to happen this way? What had she done to deserve this?
It was like the whole world had turned against her. Like there was nothing worth living for. She hated everything, because everything was always going wrong. She couldnt live like this much longer. But she would hold on. She didnt know why, but she couldnt think about that right now. It was freezing outside. Why didnt I bring a coat with me? she thought. Well, she couldnt think of that right then. She needed to get warm. It was getting dark, and she was lost. Ill find a warm place to sleep the night, and then Ill head home tomorrow. Good plan. Thats a good plan.
So she walked in circles for a second, trying to remember anywhere that might be warmer then there. Then, as she was walking next to the oak tree, she saw a narrow opening in the side of the oversized hill, a narrow opening in the wall. There seemed to be heat coming out of it, and it was the only place Lisa could think of that would be any good to stay in. But I wonder why I never noticed it before? She thought.
She squeezed through without much trouble, though the skinny opening wasnt exactly Sleep Country. But she was inside, and it was strangely warm, though she couldnt see a thing it was so dark. She tried to take a step in, but found that her foot was stuck in the opening. She pulled, but it was stuck. It was almost as if she was being held on to something, as she pulled for a few minutes without luck (though here foot did turn a nice shade of dark purple). Finally, whatever was holding it let go, and she was sent flying from the sudden lack of tension. She landed 6 or 7 feet away from where she had originally been, falling on her stomach
And her head dangling over a treacherous chasm.
She shot up in a second. She hated heights. She leaned against the wall, breathless. It was completely dark now. The sun had gone down, and it was a moonless night. All she could make out was the grey floor. It was slightly lighter then the black chasm. He looked around. There was a slim trail that kept right next to the wall, only barely wide enough for Lisa to walk on. She ran to it, and just kept on running, until she was finally too tired to run. Then she just walked at a brisk pace, and even after that, just a slow scuttle, dragging her weary feet. After about an hour of walking, she began to wonder exactly how deep the chasm really was. She picked up a loose stone from the ground after a lot of feeling around. She held her hand out a little bit over the side, careful not to fall over herself, and let go of the stone.
She waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, it had been several minutes, and there hadnt even been a sound. She leaned over slightly to look down and see if the stone had just been caught or something. There was only blackness. Nothing else. Suddenly, she felt an icy hand on her back, and she was lunged forward. For a second she couldnt breath. After that, for what seemed like hours, she felt weightless. Not a pleasant weightless feeling that you feel when you are jumping into a pool or parachuting, but an eerie one, like you know that youre going to hit something, and its only prolonged. She really only fell a few seconds, and only a few feet, but she was still as freaked out anyways. She reached up, grabbing an eroded cut into the wall, about 5 dark feet from the top. Lisa pulled herself up the side, scrambling quickly to the top. Normally she would have been too scared to do anything at this moment, but her need to get up was greater then her fear.
At the top, she charged the opposite way she had been going, back towards the crack in the wall. She covered what had taken her some of the longest hours of her life in only a matter of moments, coming back to the entrance. She ran to the crack, then stopped dead in her tracks: there was no crack. She started banging the cold with her tiny hands, screaming at the top of her lungs. When her hands were sore and red, she groped around for something to hit the wall with. She got hold of a long pole like object with knobbed ends, and started to smash at the cave wall. But then she realized what she had been using.
In her hands was a long, white bone.
She dropped it, and then looked at where she had picked it up. There was a pile of similar colored objects: the remains of what had been a man, now just a skeleton. She shrieked, weeping with no control left. She started smacking the ground, cursing everything, and then started throwing the bones into the chasm. Finally she just held herself in a beetle position, crying.
Get a hold of yourself, Lisa! she told herself finally. She got up and held herself, not for warmth: it was still very hot inside the cave. No. For comfort. Thats what she needed. But she couldnt comfort herself. She needed comfort. Comfort only her father had been able to give her. Her father
It had been a long day, and Lisa, only 4, went to the store with her father. It was Costco, and to her, it seemed like Topsham Hall to her. She was amazed by all the different toys and videos there were there (it was her first time visiting there) and forgot her father was there with her. After about 10 minutes of gaping, she realized she was alone. She started running around, screaming and yelling, crying, even laughing (for a reason I dont know) burping and hiccupping at the same time. Then, her father came in and swooped her up, embracing her with his warm love. She calmed down, and whenever she was upset like that again, he would hold her the same way he had when she was 4. Thats what she needed then. Thats all she needed.
But he wasnt there to give her that embrace. She was alone. And she had no one to help her. She had to fend for herself. How she deplored this. She couldnt stand being away from anyone. Even if it had to be her brothers.
Lisa passed the place where she had dropped, hurrying as if to escape from it happening again. Then she remembered something else:
She had been 7, and she had gone hiking with her family. It was up Luna Lake, and there was a steep part of the trail that had a railing. She had sat on it, talking to her two brothers, when it fell out. She had barely managed to grab onto a root, but she couldnt pull herself up. Her two brothers had grabbed her arms and pulled her up.
So they did love her. Even when they bugged her.
She walked for what seemed even longer then before, but really only about an hour or so. She noticed that the temperature turned from warm to humid even, and up ahead there was a thick mist. She also noticed that she was starving and parched. She stopped before that, wondering if she should go on or stay and wait for something to happen. If I wait, nothing will happen. She finally decided, and went on through. She ran through for several minutes, as she could no longer see the side of the chasm. She grew very confused as to where she was, and she had no since of how long she had been in there.
Finally, she saw something in the gloom up ahead. At first it looked like just a dot. Then the mist died down, and she saw it was an arched door way. She sprinted in, full speed. She wanted out of the mist. It could be night. Dark night. And she could come bursting out into their back yard, or even wake up from a horrible dream. She passed through the door.
And none of those things happened.
Instead, there she was one of the most depressing places in the world, though to her, it was the most graceful, joyous sight in the world. There was a long stream that flowed through two wholes on both sides of the room. Next to it, there was a small bush with a red little berry that she couldnt make out. She dived head first into the shallow stream, drinking more water then she ever had before. It was sweet! She drank the sweet, tasty water for minutes on end, and then looked at the bush. She grabbed at the berries, shoving them in her mouth. They were strawberries, but now she thought that they tasted better then chocolate. She finished the whole bush, and then drank deeply once again. Then she backed up against the wall, realizing that she was tired enough to sleep right there. But then, she was also freezing cold. She put her hands down on the floor, feeling a texture of some sort. It was a blanket. But it was pink oh, she didnt care. She just threw it over herself, feeling warm and fuzzy all over, and then fell asleep.
She woke up a few hours later, but was shocked to find the blanket was missing, as well as the stream and strawberry bush? The mist had rolled into the room as well. Before she could even wonder why, there was the noise of hooves in the cave, echoing. Suddenly, out of the mist, came a ghostly figure. It was a man, with a long beard and shaggy hair. He wore leather armor all over, and held a pale sword in his right hand. He rode on a black horse, and he himself was completely in black, save is face, which was such a deep white that almost made his skin invisible.
Lisa was strangely calm, though still a sense of fear. But all she could say was, What are you?
Hatred. YOUR Hatred.
But I dont, she began, though she stopped before she finished. Yes she did. The horse rode forward, his sword ready to drop on her. In a flash of a second, she remembered all that her family had done for her. Her brothers. Her father. She even remembered how the pink blanket had kept her warm, her only food had been strawberries, which she ate whole heartedly, and how she had thought the most beautiful place in the world was in that very room, only a few hours ago.
I dont hate anymore! she blurted out. But there was no one there. She was wrapped in a pink blanket, and there was the stream and the strawberry bush right before her. But there was a difference. There was an opening in the wall. And right there in the center of the opening, stood a tall man.
Her father.
Lisa sat on a tall, steep hill, almost a mountain, with her back to an ancient oak tree, and its back to a sharp drop off. It was a cold, autumn day, and she only wore a hood and jeans, nothing for this type of area. But even so, her face was red from the heat of her tears rolling down her cheeks. The rest of her was almost frozen.
This is all my brothers fault! She thought to herself. Them and their stupid pranks! If they hadnt died all my cloths PINK (pink, of all colors! They know I cant even touch it!) then I would never have gotten upset, and I would have never run out of that house, and I would never have come out into this blasted country side, and then I would never have gotten lost! Its all their fault! I hate them! I hate them! Her twin, 15 year old brothers had done this, and many other pranks within the last few weeks. They had died her cloths pink, which was her least favorite color to say the least. (Actually, she hated it, but still) Then they had switched out her chocolates, which she always needed to eat when she was stressed, with strawberries, her least favorite food in the world. She hadnt even looked when she had opened the chocolate-box lid and stuck one in her mouth. That was it. She burst through the door of her new home, running into the country side, never taking a glance back. Now she wished she had. She was lost.
So she sat there, in the freezing cold, moping. She wept for about an hour, and then took out her locket, which hung around her neck. It held a picture of her boyfriend. Or at least, he was her boyfriend. They had moved no more then a week ago, over seas, from New York to some odd little town in the Irish country side. She remembered the last conversation they had had before she left.
You sure you want move? Jim (her boy friend) had said.
I dont have a choice. She had replied sullenly. Why? You planning on hiding me under your bed or something?
Well its just I did some research of where youre going to live.
So?
Theres an old story around there. About this old Celtic warrior dude who used to have a farm around there. Story says that his family was burned alive in the farm, with him watching. Hatred consumed him, and he slew the men who had done it, then fifty others of the same lot. After that, he ran off back to the farm and into the hills and was never seen again. They say that now hes a ghost, and he preys on the spiteful. He leaned in, then whispered, They call him Hatred. He leaned back and nodded like he was trying to reassure himself. They both broke out laughing.
Puh! You sound like my grandpa! Do you think those old wives tales are going to scare me?
Who knows? Your gramps could be right. Theres still an empty space under my bed if youre interested. The laughing was refreshed. They knew that would never work. They had tried it when they were both in second grade, 7 years ago, when Lisa was upset and got yelled at for forgetting her backpack at school. They lived next door. And that was the first place her parents looked when she had been gone longer then she should have. Her parents
That was why they were moving, wasnt it? Her mother. She had died in the train bombings in London. Her father had bought her the tickets so that she could do what she had always wanted: Tour Europe. He hadnt been able to go with work, but he urged her to. He was moving so he wouldnt have to feel guilty. So he wouldnt have to remember her mother. If only he hadnt gotten the stupid tickets. Then her mother might be alive, and they would be a happy family, living in a big city like New York, and not without her in Ireland or Wales or Canada or wherever they were! She hated him too. She hated him more then she hated her brothers, strawberries, the country side, pink everything! Why did everything have to happen this way? What had she done to deserve this?
It was like the whole world had turned against her. Like there was nothing worth living for. She hated everything, because everything was always going wrong. She couldnt live like this much longer. But she would hold on. She didnt know why, but she couldnt think about that right now. It was freezing outside. Why didnt I bring a coat with me? she thought. Well, she couldnt think of that right then. She needed to get warm. It was getting dark, and she was lost. Ill find a warm place to sleep the night, and then Ill head home tomorrow. Good plan. Thats a good plan.
So she walked in circles for a second, trying to remember anywhere that might be warmer then there. Then, as she was walking next to the oak tree, she saw a narrow opening in the side of the oversized hill, a narrow opening in the wall. There seemed to be heat coming out of it, and it was the only place Lisa could think of that would be any good to stay in. But I wonder why I never noticed it before? She thought.
She squeezed through without much trouble, though the skinny opening wasnt exactly Sleep Country. But she was inside, and it was strangely warm, though she couldnt see a thing it was so dark. She tried to take a step in, but found that her foot was stuck in the opening. She pulled, but it was stuck. It was almost as if she was being held on to something, as she pulled for a few minutes without luck (though here foot did turn a nice shade of dark purple). Finally, whatever was holding it let go, and she was sent flying from the sudden lack of tension. She landed 6 or 7 feet away from where she had originally been, falling on her stomach
And her head dangling over a treacherous chasm.
She shot up in a second. She hated heights. She leaned against the wall, breathless. It was completely dark now. The sun had gone down, and it was a moonless night. All she could make out was the grey floor. It was slightly lighter then the black chasm. He looked around. There was a slim trail that kept right next to the wall, only barely wide enough for Lisa to walk on. She ran to it, and just kept on running, until she was finally too tired to run. Then she just walked at a brisk pace, and even after that, just a slow scuttle, dragging her weary feet. After about an hour of walking, she began to wonder exactly how deep the chasm really was. She picked up a loose stone from the ground after a lot of feeling around. She held her hand out a little bit over the side, careful not to fall over herself, and let go of the stone.
She waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, it had been several minutes, and there hadnt even been a sound. She leaned over slightly to look down and see if the stone had just been caught or something. There was only blackness. Nothing else. Suddenly, she felt an icy hand on her back, and she was lunged forward. For a second she couldnt breath. After that, for what seemed like hours, she felt weightless. Not a pleasant weightless feeling that you feel when you are jumping into a pool or parachuting, but an eerie one, like you know that youre going to hit something, and its only prolonged. She really only fell a few seconds, and only a few feet, but she was still as freaked out anyways. She reached up, grabbing an eroded cut into the wall, about 5 dark feet from the top. Lisa pulled herself up the side, scrambling quickly to the top. Normally she would have been too scared to do anything at this moment, but her need to get up was greater then her fear.
At the top, she charged the opposite way she had been going, back towards the crack in the wall. She covered what had taken her some of the longest hours of her life in only a matter of moments, coming back to the entrance. She ran to the crack, then stopped dead in her tracks: there was no crack. She started banging the cold with her tiny hands, screaming at the top of her lungs. When her hands were sore and red, she groped around for something to hit the wall with. She got hold of a long pole like object with knobbed ends, and started to smash at the cave wall. But then she realized what she had been using.
In her hands was a long, white bone.
She dropped it, and then looked at where she had picked it up. There was a pile of similar colored objects: the remains of what had been a man, now just a skeleton. She shrieked, weeping with no control left. She started smacking the ground, cursing everything, and then started throwing the bones into the chasm. Finally she just held herself in a beetle position, crying.
Get a hold of yourself, Lisa! she told herself finally. She got up and held herself, not for warmth: it was still very hot inside the cave. No. For comfort. Thats what she needed. But she couldnt comfort herself. She needed comfort. Comfort only her father had been able to give her. Her father
It had been a long day, and Lisa, only 4, went to the store with her father. It was Costco, and to her, it seemed like Topsham Hall to her. She was amazed by all the different toys and videos there were there (it was her first time visiting there) and forgot her father was there with her. After about 10 minutes of gaping, she realized she was alone. She started running around, screaming and yelling, crying, even laughing (for a reason I dont know) burping and hiccupping at the same time. Then, her father came in and swooped her up, embracing her with his warm love. She calmed down, and whenever she was upset like that again, he would hold her the same way he had when she was 4. Thats what she needed then. Thats all she needed.
But he wasnt there to give her that embrace. She was alone. And she had no one to help her. She had to fend for herself. How she deplored this. She couldnt stand being away from anyone. Even if it had to be her brothers.
Lisa passed the place where she had dropped, hurrying as if to escape from it happening again. Then she remembered something else:
She had been 7, and she had gone hiking with her family. It was up Luna Lake, and there was a steep part of the trail that had a railing. She had sat on it, talking to her two brothers, when it fell out. She had barely managed to grab onto a root, but she couldnt pull herself up. Her two brothers had grabbed her arms and pulled her up.
So they did love her. Even when they bugged her.
She walked for what seemed even longer then before, but really only about an hour or so. She noticed that the temperature turned from warm to humid even, and up ahead there was a thick mist. She also noticed that she was starving and parched. She stopped before that, wondering if she should go on or stay and wait for something to happen. If I wait, nothing will happen. She finally decided, and went on through. She ran through for several minutes, as she could no longer see the side of the chasm. She grew very confused as to where she was, and she had no since of how long she had been in there.
Finally, she saw something in the gloom up ahead. At first it looked like just a dot. Then the mist died down, and she saw it was an arched door way. She sprinted in, full speed. She wanted out of the mist. It could be night. Dark night. And she could come bursting out into their back yard, or even wake up from a horrible dream. She passed through the door.
And none of those things happened.
Instead, there she was one of the most depressing places in the world, though to her, it was the most graceful, joyous sight in the world. There was a long stream that flowed through two wholes on both sides of the room. Next to it, there was a small bush with a red little berry that she couldnt make out. She dived head first into the shallow stream, drinking more water then she ever had before. It was sweet! She drank the sweet, tasty water for minutes on end, and then looked at the bush. She grabbed at the berries, shoving them in her mouth. They were strawberries, but now she thought that they tasted better then chocolate. She finished the whole bush, and then drank deeply once again. Then she backed up against the wall, realizing that she was tired enough to sleep right there. But then, she was also freezing cold. She put her hands down on the floor, feeling a texture of some sort. It was a blanket. But it was pink oh, she didnt care. She just threw it over herself, feeling warm and fuzzy all over, and then fell asleep.
She woke up a few hours later, but was shocked to find the blanket was missing, as well as the stream and strawberry bush? The mist had rolled into the room as well. Before she could even wonder why, there was the noise of hooves in the cave, echoing. Suddenly, out of the mist, came a ghostly figure. It was a man, with a long beard and shaggy hair. He wore leather armor all over, and held a pale sword in his right hand. He rode on a black horse, and he himself was completely in black, save is face, which was such a deep white that almost made his skin invisible.
Lisa was strangely calm, though still a sense of fear. But all she could say was, What are you?
Hatred. YOUR Hatred.
But I dont, she began, though she stopped before she finished. Yes she did. The horse rode forward, his sword ready to drop on her. In a flash of a second, she remembered all that her family had done for her. Her brothers. Her father. She even remembered how the pink blanket had kept her warm, her only food had been strawberries, which she ate whole heartedly, and how she had thought the most beautiful place in the world was in that very room, only a few hours ago.
I dont hate anymore! she blurted out. But there was no one there. She was wrapped in a pink blanket, and there was the stream and the strawberry bush right before her. But there was a difference. There was an opening in the wall. And right there in the center of the opening, stood a tall man.
Her father.
