The Secret 00.5 The Prelude of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen Read Free Book Online

castles.” As I create a story for her, I find myself wishing it was real. My family hasn’t taken many trips, but it would have been nice to, if only once, go somewhere for fun, like an amusement park, or hell, I’ll take just a park at this point. The only place I can recollect going for a vacation was to the zoo back when I was six and money and life wasn’t as bad as they are now. It was a time when there was less yelling, and my mother’s delusions and manic depressive episodes hadn’t manifested.
    A minute later, my mother starts to settle down, her arms relaxing at her sides while her posture slackens. “Did we have a picnic near the shore? Because I remember having one.”
    I nod, relaxing myself. “Yeah, we had one right there on the beach, and we ate under this really large, yellow umbrella.”
    “Oh, it sounds like we had fun.” She almost smiles.
    So do I. “We did.”
    “Good, I’m glad.” She pauses, rubbing her hands up and down her arms like she’s cold, even though it’s the nearly eighty degrees outside. “You know what? I think I flew that day, too, like I did at the bridge.”
    I swallow hard. My mother’s obsession with flying has been growing worse over the years. Whenever she gets stuck inside her own head, she insists she can fly. There was one day not too long ago when she left the house, and I found her on the old town bridge, trying to actually fly. It was one of the most terrifying days of my life, and it was also the day I realized just how severe my mother’s condition is. If I hadn’t showed up when I did … Well, I don’t like to think about it too much.
    As her eyelids start to lower, I know she’s veering toward the energy crash she always has after a panic attack. “Baby girl,” she says, dragging her feet toward the stairs, “I’m going to go take a nap, just for a little while. I’ll be back in a bit.”
    “Okay.” I follow her up the stairs anyway, just to make sure she gets there. Then I help her get into bed and pull the covers over her.
    “I’m pretty sure I can fly, Ella May,” she whispers right before she passes out.
    After I tuck her in, I pick up the dirty dishes and food wrappers on the dresser, cleaning up. By the time I walk out of her room, she’s fast asleep.
    Relief washes over me as I shut the door behind me. I feel a pang of guilt over being glad she fell asleep, but deep down, I know it’s a good thing because I’m tired, and eventually, I would have snapped at her and made the situation worse.
    I wander downstairs to put the garbage in the kitchen trash can and clean off the plates. Then I pick up the collection of alcohol bottles and put them in the trash bin. I sort through the bills, making a past due pile and a ‘can be put on hold for a little while’ pile before dragging my ass to my room and collapsing onto my bed. The house is quiet. Still. And I feel completely alone. I always do whenever I’m home.
    As my eyelids drift shut, I think of another place, another world, another life where my only concern is school, myself, and what I’m going to do on Saturday night.
    Stretching my arms out, I reach beneath my pillow and let my fingers brush against the envelope I hid there a couple of months ago, right before graduation. It’s the one piece of mail I was actually happy to receive—my admissions letter to the University of Las Vegas. Quite honestly, I was surprised when I got accepted. Although, the financial aid I received wasn’t that big of a shock. Still, the money doesn’t cover the cost of everything. But I have some saved up from a few part time jobs I’ve had here and there. Once I get down there, I’ll get a job and work my ass off to survive. I want to—want that ticket out of here. I’m still not sure if I can do it, though. Bail out on my mom. Leave her behind with only my alcoholic father to take care of her. And then, of course, there’s Micha.
    Micha and our pact to leave this town together.
    I haven’t