The Creature was only nine years old when I first met it, opposing my thirty-three years. I sat down on the bench beside it, and the first thing it
did was to dig it's sharp claws into my left forearm, no doubt to elicit a reaction. I didn't flinch, but asked calmly, why would you do that?
It smiled at me, and giggled.
From there our relationship was tainted. It never had a father, and I was a fool to think I could take the place of what it expected as much, but
such is in retrospect, mistakes made, and nothing left but to tell the story with hopes that others may avoid my errors. The Creature still haunts
me, as I invited it into my house once, and it has never left since, stay for a brief incursion into reality to torture another living soul, but it's
foray was brief, and I believe it enjoys inflicting mental anguish on me. Let me digress a bit further.
A nasty divorce incorporating infidelity left me with no desire to share my company with another female, so I raised the two offspring from that
ill-fated union on my own, when the courts provided me with visitation rights, liberally modified by my attorney and I, and I never missed a day that
I was allowed to have my first two children. My original dream, my goal for the future, was to create four children, a sole union with a female, and
to raise a family accordingly. Such idyllic dreams were founded within me at an early age, and following my heart's whispering, I married the first
time at age twenty-four. Eight years later, my original dreams were completely shattered, and for the next three years I was a single father by
choice, cursing the courts, the ex, her lover, and my own short-sightedness. It took time to heal. I remained alone, and devised a new plan for the
future.
Not dating or being distracted by a companion, I decided to search the interwebs for a new mate. The years within my self-inflicted prison caused me
to cry myself to sleep at night, ever longing for the ideal companion, and in my dreams I began to formulate what she would be like. In an interim
that seemed like eternity, I found a blogging website, and poured my soul into it. My hatred for a corrupt system of justice began to ebb, and I
decided to let myself heal, enjoying my time with my kids, and blogging on a daily basis helped to ease the pain of being alone. My friends began to
worry about me, for the simple fact that I was single, and not interested in dating. Little did they know what my hours spent in a blogging community
were doing, and little did they know what I wanted out of life. I was coerced by them at different times to go on "blind" dates, match making in
reality, yet all the dates had flaws I couldn't deal with. I was simply not interested in settling for second best, and I wanted to find my next
partner on my own, and somehow, I knew I'd find her on the interwebs.
In retrospect, you can map out your life in your own mind, decide what you want, and set out to achieve it, but reality doesn't give a damn about
what you think. Life always has a curve ball to toss in your direction. Which it did.
Sure, I found her. She was hiding under pages and pages of electronic noise, in the blogging community that I was and still am a member of. She
lived an hour and a half away. She was hot, sexy, witty, and very wise. She also had been single for three years. She matched the woman I was
dreaming about and she had a nine year old daughter that she was raising on her own. All I needed was one more child, and I could repair the original
plans that I had in life, and I told her everything about myself. There were none of the usual "red flags" that occur, and I was sick and tired of
being alone in bed at night.
The first day we met, it was a warm summer day, and we went for a walk in the local metro park. I asked to hold hands while we walked. She obliged.
We talked, conversation easily flowing, and we stopped at a park bench to rest and enjoy the beautiful scenery. I was enthralled, being alone for so
long, to finally be spending time with another lonely soul. We gazed into each others eyes, and she kissed me. Fireworks.
The Creature and the babysitter were not happy when we returned hours later, but that didn't matter at the time to me. I was starting a new chapter
in my life. It's amazing how a simple kiss can totally skew your common sense, and if I was listening at the time to it, I would've run like mad
and never looked back. They scolded her, for being gone so long with a man she didn't know from the internet that just showed up out of nowhere,
thinking all sorts of evil had happened to her, and I just grinned sheepishly as I understood their perspective. Little did they know we had already
logged in lots of hours of online chatting, and had a pretty good understanding of each others natures.
Needless to say, the newest pages in my life were being written, and in an evening of passion the miracle of conception occurred. We had a shotgun
wedding, and set off to settle into the routine of being a husband, wife and family. My goal of four children was soon to be realized, but little did
I know what the Creature had in store for my own sanity.
The Creature turned from a sweet little girl into a spoiled brat after her mom and her left the city ghetto to live with me in the country. She
became a picky eater, not wanting what the rest of the family was having for dinner, because she didn't like it. She went from a spoiled brat to an
absolute monster once school started, wanting only the most popular fashions, the most expensive shampoos, and new shoes once a month, because there
was this competition of popularity at school that she was involved in. The monster turned into a drama queen, and from there she started inflicting
the worst poison into my soul.
One time, sometime after she turned eleven, it was past midnight on a school night, and she was still lounging on the couch watching television.
I said, "Hey, isn't it about time for bed? You have school tomorrow."
She responded in the iciest tone possible, "You are NOT my father, and I DON'T have to listen to you."
"I know I'm not, but you do have school tomorrow."
"I'll go to bed when I feel like it."
I walked away, and finally saw the Creature within. I realized my dreams were once again shattered. I went to bed that night, shaken within, knowing
that the Creature now had the upper hand.
Her mother and I had agreed from the onset that discipline of the children belonged to the respective parent. I told her mother of the exchange, but
soon realized that her mom was under her evil spell. The Creature controlled her own mother, her friends, anyone that she could, but she would never
control me. When people were around, she was sweet as pie, but as soon as we were alone in the house, she morphed back into her true nature, an evil
demon spawned from the very bowels of hell. It's tough living with a demon like that. Soon after, the games began.
It was little things at first. My toothbrush would disappear, mysteriously. I'd have to buy a new one. A toothbrush doesn't just jump out of
it's holder, grow legs, and walk away. My sanity tells me that. The remote for the downstairs TV would disappear, to be lost for days, only to
strangely appear in the same spot from whence it was missing. The toilet paper was the next evil trick I couldn't comprehend, and it continues to
this day.