It was thought to be schizophrenia at first, a natural conclusion from the various doctors they visited. Others said it was actually just frequent bouts of psychotic episodes, bipolar, and a number of schizoaffective disorders. No one knew for sure as little Rhys' symptoms were never once consistent. It started when he was 7 years old, little Rhys Porcher would see different kinds of anthropomorphic animals in his home. On top of not being comfortable with them, the animals in question taunted him. animals that his parents could not see or hear. The inane things children around his age believed were taken a step further into genuine fear and crippling anxiety.
Rhys' father, a French national named Alain, came to the sleepy town of Middlehazy in the early 80s as a young man fresh out of college. A local insurance company employed him, as they were quite short of people willing to crunch the numbers for them. Life started to look good for Alain; he was 21 years old, working casual hours at a local insurance company for decent pay.
He met a woman named Olivia Healey, a Middlehazy native, at a busy pub. She was a still in college at the time she met Alain and fell for that European charm and jovial personality of his, so they hit it off. Over the next few years, they dated on-and-off. She graduated and eventually became a schoolteacher. Rhys on the other hand got a few promotions at work, as he was a hard worker.
And then it happened. She accidentally fell pregnant with what would be their little Rhys. This wouldn't have been if big deal if they were at least married, but they weren't. Other than that, they both had vastly different opinions as to what the fuck their relationship meant. She was smitten with him. He saw their relationship just as a fling that would soon pass. So here he was; Alain Porcher, 24 years old, employed, responsible for the impregnation of one of the women he was in a casual relationship with.
He really had no choice but to take responsibility for the child. That didn't stop him from having affairs with other women while Olivia cohabitated with him. He could really be with absolutely anyone else instead, it was too soon for such a drastic change to his life. He wasn't ready to be responsible for a child at his age with a woman he didn't really love.
Alain's predicament pushed him to down a few more shots of rum every weekend in the following years, which then developed into alcoholism as he tried to cope. His employers had no use for a drunk like him and let him go when his addiction worsened. Olivia took care of him the best she could as a schoolteacher while he was unemployed. Alain began to dig into their savings account to fund his habit. He lost every job he ever got a after he was let go by the insurance company because of his drinking. In between his brief spells at different jobs, he dug into his savings account to continue abusing the bottle.
It was Olivia's money that bought their food, furniture, paid their bills and took Rhys to school. It was just a matter of time until the man she loved began to feel like a burden on her, further worsening their relationship. And then there was their child's mental illness that none of them was effectively dealing and coping with.
Mental illness aside, Rhys was growing up to be a normal enough child considering his home situation. He was good in school, witty, endearing, friendly, and for the most part, happy. Part of the reason was because of his friend Leah. He could easily say she was his best friend as they were the same age and liked most of the same things. The only problem just happened to be that she was wasn't actually real.
Leah was with him often: she would be in his room, walking down the street with him, sitting on an empty desk in class, or at the dinner table with him and his parents. She was always up to something amusing when she made appearances for him in public. She was quirky and creative and always made him smile with her antics, although none of them ever influenced events in reality. Leah had auburn hair that sat in a mass of curly ringlets. She had freckles on her cute blue-eyed, pixie-like face and wore the most imaginative outfits for her age. Leah and Rhys were inseparable until he got older. He couldn't be sure it was the treatment, therapy sessions, or that he had simply outgrown her, but she wasn't with him as often as she used to until she was gone altogether. It was no great loss to Rhys.