Barbra and Sophia come home after a long day at school. An unfamiliar car is parked in the long leading driveway that leads to her house. Barbra and Sophia share a confused glance with each other before bounding towards the house. Barbra throws open the screen door that leads to the front of the house. The house is quiet and darker than usual like it was when her mother was alive. As the front door slams shut, Dave came running, a scared expression plastered on his face. “You need to be quiet” he whispered quickly, he was breathing heavily. Like he had just sprinted 10 miles up Mount Everest. “What is it?” Barbra asked curiosity filling her voice. “It’s dad. He’s back.” Dave said just as quiet as he did before. “What do you mean” Barbra and Sophia said at the same time. Dave jumped, he had obviously forgotten that Sophia was there. “He’s back. He came back about an hour ago and he had a bottle of liquor with him. He’s knocked out. In mom’s room…” he drifted off. Barbra’s eyes darkened with anger “How dare he, he can’t come back out of nowhere and just act like he’s been here the whole time!” she had yelled.

Dave looked up the stairs, his eyes wide with fear. He lifted up his sleeve to reveal finger-shaped bruises on his wrist. “All I did was ask why he was here and he grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the doorway” Dave whispered as two feet heavily hit the ground and started to head down the stairs. Two feet appeared, both in old beaten boots. Soon, gray sweatpants just as equally beaten as the boots appeared, followed with a man that must have once been considered handsome, but now cold. His blue eyes, Barbra’s eyes. An electric blue. “Ocean eyes” Barbra thought. Stubble on his face, and everyone could already tell that his breath stank of alcohol, as they could smell it from where they stood near the doorway. “Well well well. Look who finally came home. all grhown up i see” He managed to get out, with a lopsided grin. Barbra and Sophia stared at him and then each other. “Sophia... Run” Barbra whispered quickly. Sophia inched towards the door slowly and then *he* turned his head to her, looked her up and down and grinned and said “Welll where are you goin?” he slurred. Sophia stopped and stared at him before throwing open the door and sprinting out. His mood changed instantly, and started to scream “Get back here you little brat” and he started to run as fast as he could, tripping over his own feet and barely missing Sophia’s shirt. He swore and shut the door, going into the garage. Dave and Barbra stood there for a minute, stunned about what had just happened. Dave snapped out of it first and shook Barbra, where she was still staring at the empty space next to her, where Sophia had been standing. “We need to go. Now.” Dave said, looking at the direction where their father had gone. Barbara nodded her head. “Let’s go.” She said. They took a step toward the door. A slight click had then freeze. They turned towards the door and saw their father with a gun, finger on the trigger and the safety off. He grinned and cocked his head “Wheree are y’all goin?” He said, as venom dripped from his words. Barbra, filled with sudden rage said “We are leaving. We won’t stay here with you! Not after all you’ve done.” Barbra never saw it coming. Her fathers hand came out faster then a cobra and struck her across the face. Her glasses were knocked off her face and she fell to the ground, holding her face. She looked across the floor, under a door that led into a closet and saw a ghost of a shadow near the opening. She slid over to it, and sat against it as her eyes filled with years and she watched her father start to laugh. “You ain’t gettin away as she done.” Barbra stood up, using the door as a crutch and stared at him and spit at him. Hitting him in the face. She opened the door to hide inside but fell over something that was in the doorway. She fell over the object and looked up and saw her father’s face towering over her. He lifted her up by her shirt and punched her in the face so hard she saw stars, fairies, her mother. As she was falling to the ground and her vision dimmed, the last thing she saw was Karen’s body, a red stain covering her chest and her eyes wide open, and glazed over. “Ocean eyes…” Barbra thought as the song entered her head...

“No fair

You really know how to make me cry

When you gimme those ocean eyes

I'm scared

I've never fallen from quite this high

Falling into your ocean eyes

Those ocean eyes” -Billie Eliish “ocean eyes”