Fractured Ties: A Short Story
written by ✧Aurora Lovecraft✧
Aurora Lovecraft's third and final short story brings you a young girl of 16 named Savannah torn between listening to the lies that she is fed by her mother and finding out the truth for herself. But the road to that truth is risky. Dangerous. Perhaps heartbreaking. Will she side with the blissful ignorance or unearth what may fracture her?
Last Updated
05/31/21
Chapters
10
Reads
444
Savannah
Chapter 1
Family, by definition, is “a group consisting of parents and children living together in a household”. Either this is an entirely inaccurate definition or most “families” are not actually families at all. If the latter is the case, it explains the status of Savannah and her “family” – broken, separated, missing, even nonexistent. While everyone else she knew had dads and two sets of grandparents, all she had was a workaholic mother who wasn’t even home half the time. And, of course, her aunt Sarah, who happened to be the only person that understood at least half of Savannah’s feelings about her dad. When she was younger, Savannah frequently daydreamed about her dad and who he was, preferably a courageous navy SEAL that heroically died saving others. But that idea was quickly discarded along with others when, after months of inquiring, her mom bitterly told her he was just another runaway teenage boyfriend afraid of the responsibility fatherhood ensues. She never even told her his name. Why would he want her anyway? But Savannah knew he did want her at some point. She remembered the time when a strange man, though she never saw his face, came to their doorstep. All she remembered was her mom crying and yelling at him as he apologized profusely. She had slammed the door in his face and never spoke of that day. Savannah just knew that was her dad – he had to be. There was no one else her mom spoke about with such bitterness. Sometimes, she would want to find him just to spite her mom, who she had eventually come to resent. She had a right to find and have a relationship with her own dad, didn’t she? Even if she was able to find him, he wouldn’t want her back – especially after that incident.
As Savannah grew into her teenage years, she gradually learned to forget her dad and her childish daydreams and memories. She now walks down the long, dreary halls of Newlife Hospital attempting to earn the last remains of her community service hours, if she was to graduate. As she watches the lights above slightly flicker, she wonders how exactly trying to form a decent conversation (without conveying this is the last place she wants to be) is supposed to help a seemingly sick, lonely person. Savannah scans the numbered rooms and attempts to find the one corresponding to the number on the slip of paper Sarah had given her. Sarah had an unusual aptitude for anything related to service, whether that be clearing a park of trash, spending time with lonely elderly, and of course, helping single mothers raise their forlorn child – that was definitely a daily chore for her. Regardless, Savannah recalls that Sarah appeared abnormally exuberant about arranging this for her – why didn’t she just visit sick people herself?
Savannah finally finds room 213 and peeks in, expecting to see a 90-year-old grandma crocheting. Instead, she finds a man with shortly cropped brown hair and a 2-3-day old beard. Savannah doesn’t think he is more than 35
years old. He appears to be dozing off, but slightly jerks up as he appears to hear Savannah closing the squeaking door behind her.
“Hello? Are you Mr. Eaton?”
