Daddy, Don't Be Mad, I'll Stay Put

Intense resentment set my soul ablaze. The space around me began to twist and warp. In the darkness, it felt as if an invisible pair of hands was tearing me apart.

The pain was worse than breaking a bone.

"Arlene, what are you spacing out for? Get down now!"

A sharp female voice pierced through my consciousness. My eyes snapped open.

Harsh sunlight and the scent of grass mixed with earth filled my nostrils. Before me was a pair of pink dance shoes. The densely packed steel spikes on their soles gleamed coldly.

I froze.

Was I in the yard?

I instinctively touched my chest. My heart was pounding violently, and my ribs weren't broken. And though my breathing was rapid, it was smooth.

I wasn't dead?

No.

I'd been reborn.

And I'd returned to the year I was eleven years old, before my spine had fully deformed and my ribs had been kicked in. I was back to the last time Callie put on those deathly dance shoes and trampled on me.

"Arlene, are you deaf?"

Mom stood nearby impatiently with a parasol in her hand.

"Callie wants to go see the roses over there. Get down on the ground and be her doormat now. I'll make you pay if you delay Callie's flower-viewing."

Callie looked down at me from above, a malicious smile curling at the corners of her mouth.

"Arlene, hurry up. My feet can't touch the ground. You'll help me, right?"

She lifted her foot, the sharp steel spikes aimed directly at my spine.

In my previous life, it was here that I, in a desperate bid to be obedient and to please Dad and Mom, took that kick without a word. It ruined my life from that moment on.

Dad sat not far away under a parasol, sipping coffee, his gaze fixed on us with encouragement.

"Arlene, be a good girl. Callie is sick, so you need to take care of her."

He wanted me to take care of her? To hell with that!

The resentment that had built up before my death exploded in my chest. I stared at the spiked shoe about to descend. This time, I would never again be that fool who let herself be slaughtered.

Callie's foot came down heavily, driven by a vicious force intent on stomping me into the mud.

Just as the sole was about to touch my back, I threw myself violently to the side. The move was sharp and clean, without the slightest hesitation.

A piercing shriek tore through the yard.

Callie's foot landed on empty air. She lost balance and crashed heavily to the ground.

Even better, because she had put too much force into it, the foot clad in the spiked shoe swung back violently and landed a heavy blow on her own other shin.

The sound of steel spikes piercing flesh was unmistakable, and blood instantly soaked through the white stockings.

"My leg! It hurts!" Callie writhed on the ground in pain, thrashing like a fish tossed ashore.

The yard fell into a deathly silence. No one could comprehend what had just happened.

I lay trembling on the grass, not from fear, but from excitement.

Lifting my head, I showed a face etched with terror. Tears instantly welled up in my eyes.

"Callie, I'm sorry. There was a bee, and it stung me."

The show had just begun.