Rhiannon: Chapter 2

Rhiannon was a pretty girl with eyes of blue. She was raised on minimal amounts of love and affection, given to her by her family, which consisted of her mother and younger brother, Steven. Her father had deserted them when she was still a little girl. No one seemed to know where he had gone, just that he had. Although Rhiannon and her father had never really connected, she still remembered some little things about him. Her mother treated Rhiannon as though she were an adult. Even when she was still quite small, she was taught to defend herself, as well as cook and clean. Her mother was never the same after the disappearance of Rhiannon's father. It all seemed so out of the blue. As a result, Rhiannon was often forgotten about. Especially after the baby arrived. Rhiannon never recieved praise for any gold stars on her papers. She never got an ice-cream or even so much as a "nice work, Rhiannon" for a stellar report card. And Rhiannon was a good little girl. But she was unlike any other.

In grade school, she excelled greatly, beyond all of the other children. She did every assignment on time and was an exceptional speller. But when Rhiannon's mother was called in for a routine parent teacher conference, it was for a different reason.
"Rhiannon's been behaving rather... strange, lately."
"What do you mean, strange?" asked her mother.
"Well.." the teacher paused and folded her hands neatly in her lap before continuing. "She's being a bit too.." she paused again, as if searching for the right words. "... physical. With the other students."
The words sent her mother into shock. Physical? Rhiannon? She would barely touch her own family, let alone strange children.
"How do you mean, 'physical'? Rhiannon's not--"
"She's been hugging them." The teacher interjected. These words chained her mother into silence, and she glanced over the teacher's shoulder at the fingerpaintings on the wall.
"H.. hugging them..?" her mother whispered. The teacher nodded and unfolded her hands.
"I find it strange as well, Mrs. Bell. In fact, I've never seen anything like it, and I've been teaching for twelve years." She spoke calmly, re-pinning her hair.
"What does she do?" her mother quietly asked.
"I've seen children hug their friends before, Mrs. Bell, and that's nothing out of the ordinary. But Rhiannon hugs everyone. Even the faculty, on occasion. It's the strangest thing.." she trailed off and placed a finger to her lip, as though deep in thought. After a moment of silence between the two of them, the teacher turned to her mother, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Do you... hug your daughter, Mrs. Bell?"
Taken off guard and shocked by the question, she let out a gasp.
"Of course I hug my daughter," she lied. The teacher shook her head and sighed, as she rose from the chair.
"I don't know. She's a wonderful little girl. And so bright. I just wanted to tell you about.. that." The two women shook hands uneasily, and with that, Mrs. Bell left the room.

That night, Rhiannon went with her mother and Steven to the department store. Rhiannon, as usual, was allowed to roam about the store as she pleased, so long as she was back at the registers by seven. She wandered around without a purpose, dragging her small hands through aisles of winter coats. She would sneak in between them to the center of the circular racks and giggle to herself. She was hidden safely in her foxhole, and the enemy would never be able to find her. When it was nearly seven, Rhiannon began skipping carelessly back to the front of the store, when all of a sudden she stopped. She stared up at the long tweed coats in front of her. Her brain flashed back; she was sitting on one of these coats.. no. She was snuggled up against the person wearing this coat. She stepped closer and breathed in the smell. "Daddy.." her little voice whispered. She took another step forward and wrapped her tiny arms around as many of them as she could, burying her face in them. There he was. Holding her and laughing, telling her what a sweet girl she was. How he would love her forever, that she was his little angel. She smiled to herself as he spun her around. He was singing a strange song she'd never heard before. A song about her. Suddenly a strong hand wrapped around her wrist and yanked her away.
"Come on, Rhiannon, I told you to meet me at seven..."

-L-