3
[Story Two: Goldie’s Bell – He Was Ruining
My Studies, He Had to Die]
When I was fifteen, my grades slipped to third
in my class.
Mom sat on the couch, staring at my 98%
test score.
“Why isn’t it 100? Those two points would
have made you number one! What are you
even doing?!”
I looked down, not saying a word.
That night, I snuck out the window to the alley
behind our house and gave a stray dog the
く
I looked up from my drawing at the camera,
smiling.
“I really loved Goldie. He was my only friend
at the time.”
“It’s not like I didn’t want friends.‘
“Mom wouldn’t let me hang out with other
kids because it would keep me from doing
homework.”
“I remember my friends coming over, and
Mom would hide me under the bed, telling me
not to make a sound.”
“After a while… I stopped having friends.”
Dr. Lewis’s voice came from behind the
camera.
“Did you live like that all the time?”
I nodded. “Always.”
The camera went back to my drawing.
In the picture, Mom was yelling at the girl,
holding up an empty homework assignment.
“The teacher called and said you didn’t do
<
your homework yesterday! I leave for one
night!”
I lowered my head.
Mom grabbed my collar and picked off a
yellow hair.
“What’s this? Looks like dog hair?”
My eyes widened. “I… I bumped into
something on the way home!”
“Really?”
I nodded hard. “I didn’t do my homework
because… I wasn’t feeling well.”
Mom paused, touching my forehead. “Do you
have a fever?”
“A little.”
“Alright…” she sighed.
“Rest for a bit, but remember to catch up on
your work.”
“Okay!”
Back then, the little girl naively thought she
had gotten away with it.
<
Until Mom caught her playing with Goldie…
“You didn’t do your homework because of
this mutt?!”
Mom grabbed Goldie by the scruff of the
neck, and I panicked.
“No, Mom! I was just feeding him!”
“Oh, so that’s how it is, is it, [Your Name]?
Your father and I are out there busting our
asses to earn money for you, and you’re just
here bringing animals home!”
“Do you know how hard this is for your father
and me? I nearly died giving birth to you, and
now I have to work my fingers to the bone to
provide for you. You can’t even study? You’re
taking our hard–earned money and doing
nothing with it! I can’t believe you!”
She grabbed Goldie and headed for the roof.
I rushed after her.
“Mom, what are you doing?”
“What does it look like? You like playing with
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dogs? I’ll let you play!”
Goldie was dangling in the air.
His big, dark eyes looked at me, seeming to
smile, as if I was about to pull out a hot dog
and take him outside.
“No!!”
As Goldie was thrown, I lunged forward and
grabbed Mom’s arm.
With the sound of ripping fabric, Goldie flew
through the air, letting out a yelp.
I was left holding only his little bell.
I heard Mom scream.
I knelt on the ground, staring at Goldie’s body
below, tears streaming down my face.
Mom clutched her wrist, where I had
accidentally scratched her in my panic.
She trembled.
“You hit me?”
“[Your Name], you hit me!”
“Honey!”
く
“Honey!”
A familiar figure ran up the stairs.
The girl kneeling at the edge of the roof
stared blankly down.
For a moment, she considered jumping after
him.
The next second, she was knocked to the
ground by a slap.
Dad stood between Mom and me. “How dare
you? Who taught you to hit your mother?!”
That day, the girl was dragged back home,
locked in her room, and released a day later.
