SPARROW POV
It's been years since I've come to pay my therapist a visit. The last time I came here I was locked up like a wild animal.
Dr. Louisiana adjusted her reading glasses and she was watching me with a puzzled expression.
"You vowed never to come here again Sparrow but yet again you broke your own promise."
Her blue eyes met mine softly.
"So what brings you here?"
She gestured to me to take a seat on one of the arm chairs in her office.
"You know why I'm here so why are you asking me?"
She scribbled down something in her notebook.
I hated being treated like an experiment.
"It's about your mother again?"
I nodded quietly.
"I don't understand how you're even related to that woman who calls herself my mother."
"What happened this time?"
"She's haunting my dreams again and it's driving me crazy."
"She abandoned me at the carnival."
I scoffed in annoyance.
"She told everyone that I wasn't her daughter."
"Can you tell me what exactly happened that day?" Dr. Louisiana asked curiously.
FLASHBACK
I looked around the carnival and noticed a lot of rides. Although I was short, I was eager to try them all.
My mother wrapped a yellow scarf around her neck. She was wearing big sunglasses that hid her beautiful blue bell eyes.
"Hold my hand so that you don't get lost in the crowd sweetie."
I grinned excitedly and grasped my mother's hand tightly.
"Can I go on all the rides?"
She smiled at me.
"Of course you can try them all."
And just like that my dream came true and I ended up going all the rides that supported my height. We ate cotton candy until I felt like my stomach was on the verge of bursting.
She wiped some cotton candy off my face.
"Stay here and I'll get you some napkins."
I nodded quietly.
"And don't talk to strangers while I'm gone."
"Stay here, I'll come back for you."
I watched her disappear into the crowd until I couldn't see her anymore. The little bubble that carried my excitement was about to pop when minutes turned hours.
I looked around the carnival anxiously. What seemed like a happy place was slowly turning into a nightmare.
I began wandering in the crowd searching for her. Many people kept bumping into me and I was on the verge of bursting into tears because I couldn't find my mother.
I tried to wipe away my tears but my sticky hands only made me dirty.
People kept staring at me like I was a funny looking thing and for the first time in my life I felt scared of the world.
I felt someone push me from behind. I fell on the ground hard, scraping my knee in the process.
I was bleeding.
The voices around me wouldn't stop buzzing even when I blocked the sound by covering my ears with my hands.
Someone grabbed my hand, yanking me until I was on my two feet again.
It was a man wearing a police uniform.
"What are you doing at the carnival alone kid?"
When I didn't answer he dragged me with him.
He took me to his office and gave me a glass of water.
"Did you come here alone?"
I drank the water and shook my head negatively.
"I came here with my mother."
"Where is she now?"
"She went to get napkins for me because my hands felt sticky."
"She didn't come back."
The police checked the footage and asked me to look carefully.
"That's her, the woman wearing the yellow scarf around her neck" I muttered excitedly pointing at the screen.
"Before I take you to see your mother I need to clean your wound."
He got a first aid box and took out some cotton wool.
"This is going to hurt a bit but I know that you're a brave girl."
I winced in pain, shutting my eyes tightly.
"I'm done."
I looked at my knee.
"You fixed it."
For the first time the grumpy policeman smiled at me.
"Anybody can do that little girl."
"You should be a doctor."
"Do you really think so?"
I nodded quietly.
He offered me his hand and I grasped it gently.
"What's your name, little girl."
"Sparrow."
"Ah Sparrow like the bird?"
I sighed softly.
"I guess so but that doesn't mean that I'm bird brain."
We reached outside and I felt safe again but this time it wasn't with my mother it was with a total stranger.
My mother was talking to another man and managed to hear a few words from their conversation.
"Did you get rid of the girl?"
"Of course I'm sure that someone will dump her in some orphanage."
He tapped her on the shoulder.
"Ma'am is this your daughter?"
My mother gasped in shock when she saw me.
She exchanged looks with the man beside her.
"No officer you're mistaken this girl isn't my daughter I don't have any children."
My little confused brain couldn't understand what was going on because my own mother had rejected me.
"Mom?"
She frowned at me.
"Do not call me your mother."
Tears spilled down my chubby cheeks.
I cling to her holding her dress but she pushes me away.
"Mommy..."
I wanted to yell and tell her that I was her little girl. Maybe she couldn't recognize me because I was dirty right now.
PRESENT DAY
I wiped my tears away.
"Sparrow are you okay?"
I got up to check the time on the clock.
"How long have I been here?"
"Two hours."
I glared at her.
"You did that thing with your watch again? You hypnotized me so that I could talk about my mother."
"Sit down Sparrow, let's finish our session."
"The scar on your knee..."
"Yes it's when my mother abandoned me at the carnival."
"Sparrow, you have to understand that your mother wasn't always this way."
"This world changed her and turned her into this monster."
"Are you taking her side?"
"No but I'm just telling you the facts."
"Things have been hard for her."
FLASHBACK
SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO
Dirty Politics
AMBER POV
Once the camera's were zoomed in on my face I gave the audience my award winning smile and began reading the news.
I didn't have the best luck when I first started working. I remember delivering coffees to the board of directors until Knox noticed me.
He gestured to me to come closer.
"What do you do here young lady?"
"I serve the coffee sir."
"A job like that doesn't suit you. I want you to be my secretary and after that I can get a job elsewhere."
"You'd do that for me?"
He smiled at me.
"Of course a beautiful woman like you deserves the best experience."
Knox was only a few years older than me but he was the first man to ever make me feel this way.
And he kept his promise. For a couple of months I worked as his secretary at the assembly. I found out that Knox and his family owned a law firm in New York.
He introduced me to his friends who owned a few media places he knew about my dreams and aspirations.
After a series of multiple interviews one of the company's contacted me back and that's when my career as a journalist began.
Knox poured some champagne in my glass.
"You've finally achieved your dream and I believe that this occasion calls for a celebration."
I nodded quietly.
He was the first I told about getting selected for the job.
He smiled at me.
"I knew that you were special Amber and that you've always been a fighter."
He was giving me that look again and I felt uncomfortable.
"Why do you always look at me like that?"
"You're beautiful and at times I can't control myself. I'm sorry if I was making you feel uncomfortable."
I forced a smile.
"That's alright you don't have to apologize."
I took a sip of my wine and looked around the restaurant.
Knox took the liberty of booking the whole restaurant for our little celebration.
It was just the two of us here and of course only a few waiter's who came to serve us.
He got up and offered me his hand.
"Dance with me, this is my favorite song."
Careless Whisper by George Michael began playing in the background.
I smiled at him.
"Did you arrange this?"
I grasped his hand.
"Only for you."
We danced for a while chatting about my new job but everything changed between us when he leaned in to close.
It was one kiss I told myself it wouldn't change anything.
Knox would still be my boss.
His lips lingered on mine and I felt myself melting into his arms.
I pulled away from him afraid because I didn't know what came over me.
"I'm really sorry sir."
He grabbed my hand tightly and this time he wasn't smiling.
"What do you think you're doing Amber?!"
"I did this all for you and you're thanking me by walking away?"
"What?"
He scoffed in annoyance.
"Oh don't act stupid I got this job because I knew that you would give me your body in return."
I felt disgusted.
What happened to the gentleman who was standing before me a few minutes ago?
Knox took off his jacket and before I could dash for the door he caught me.
Tears spilled down my cheeks as he dragged me to the bathroom where no one would hear my screams.
He unbuckled his belt and tore my dress to shreds.