When the Truth Leads Me to Patricide

I struggled against Dad's vice-tight hold as he let me kick and punch him. Whimpers and grunts of devastation formed in my throat as my tears sprang free.

It wasn't until the lakewater had swallowed my passport that Dad finally let me go.

However, I knew my life would be over if I heeded his word and stayed in the town forever. That prompted me to wade into the lake, fighting against death itself, to search for my passport.

The icy chill of the water seeped into my bones. It took me a while to locate my passport, but it fell apart in the water like mud.

At that moment, it felt like a massive palm had come out of nowhere and crushed me in its mighty grip. All my plans were ruined.

I returned home as a shell of the woman I had been. A man I'd never seen before stood in our yard. Upon seeing my return, Dad hauled me to the hill by the arm. "Your new skin is growing out nicely. Let's see if things won't work out with another man."

Hot, white rage seized me as I thought about the same consequences that had befallen me the last ten times and the scorching sensation of my body being boiled.

There was no accounting for the sudden surge of strength I used to shove Dad away, staggering backward as I signed, "Why are you doing this to me? I'll die if I lose another layer of skin! I'm your biological daughter, for god's sake!

"Why is it that out of everyone in the village, only my fiances would go into the hill and come out completely different people? Are you doing this on purpose?"

Dad stepped forward calmly, then grabbed my hair and forced out roughly, "This is your fate!"

With that, he dragged me by my hair toward the hill behind the town.

We'd just left the town entrance when my best friend, Queenie, rushed over. Tears welled up in my eyes. I looked at her like she was the physical representation of hope.

Worried something might go wrong, Queenie had even brought the mayor.

The mayor had always been fair when dealing with town affairs. He looked somber as he struck Dad's arm with his cane.

"Can't you let the child go? So what if she can't break her curse and stays mute forever? If you keep this up, someday, something terrible may happen to her. You'll be sorry then!"

Queenie quickly pulled me behind her while Dad was caught off guard by the pain in his arm.

"You old fart! You're just using your identity as Beth's Dad as an excuse to pick on her! Why else would the other townsfolk's engagements work out, but not Beth's ten engagements?

"I'd like to hear what lousy excuse you have this time! If I find evidence that your twisted behavior is baseless, I'll have you locked up!"

I held Queenie back as she tried to move toward the hill, biting my lip and shaking my head vehemently. I didn't want her to enter the hill and come out like the others who'd wanted to murder me after. I didn't want to lose the only friend who'd been kind to me.

However, Queenie patted my hand firmly and said in a steely tone, "I'm here to save you today. I won't hurt you, no matter what I see on that hill!"

The mayor placated me as well. "We have to know the reason, at least."

They were right. I also wanted to know what secrets the hill was holding. I slowly released Queenie.

Dad wordlessly led Queenie to the hill, but it didn't take her long to return with a grim scowl. She clutched her lower abdomen and retched, fixing me with a look just as contemptuous as the ones I'd gotten before.

She stormed up to me and kicked me twice. "How could you be so twisted, Elizabeth? I must have been blind to think of you as my best friend!

"A person like you deserves to rot in this town! Don't ever call me again, or I'll kill you myself!"

The mayor and my new suitor were bewildered. They pressed Queenie for answers.

Queenie spat on me, then whispered what she'd seen on the hill in the men's ears.

My new suitor's eyes widened as horror colored his expression. He cursed, "Bitch! Where's your conscience? How could you possibly set me up with a despicable woman like her?

"I'd sooner stay single for the rest of my life than marry her!"

The mayor's expression was thunderous. He stood rooted in place for a while, then summoned all his strength to strike me with his cane. He trembled as he cried, "I don't know what atrocity our town has done to deserve a devil like you living among us!"

I meekly lifted my chin to look at the people who'd been on my side just moments ago. Even my best friend wanted to kill me.

I lay sprawled on the ground. Helplessness washed over me. And yet, there was nothing I could do.