Destiny

My cries put me to sleep. I slept peacefully until I heard someone call my name. “Destiny. Destiny.” I knew the voice all too well. I opened my eyes weakly to see Axel sitting next to me on my bed.

“Hey,” I said softly as I sat up.

“You okay?” he asked softly.

I yawned and rubbed my eyes. “Yeah, I’m okay. How’d the hunting go?”

“Pretty good, we got a boar.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, wanna see?”

“Yeah!”

I got out of bed and followed Axel downstairs to the kitchen. Father put it in a sack and placed it on a separate counter that was used to gut out the animals he and Axel caught while hunting. Axel opened the sack for me and that’s when I saw it. The boar was huge! Its tusks were at least a foot long, which was kinda rare around these parts.

“Destiny!” I flinched at the sound of my mother’s voice. I tried not to show it, so Axel wouldn’t worry. But Axel already knew. He followed me into the living room, where father and grandmother were as well.

“Destiny,” she said with a calm, yet cold voice.

“Y-yes, mom?” I answered trying to sound calm.

“Your father and brother brought that boar home hours ago, so you should’ve prepared the meat hours ago. Where were you?”

“I was sleeping.”

“Sleeping? I thought I told you to do your chores! But instead, you lounge around!”

I held my arm and with each hurtful word she made I squeezed it tighter. She kept calling me lazy, ungrateful, and pathetic.

“Honestly, it’s bad enough you’re a disgrace and an embarrassment, but do you have to be a brat, too?”

“That’s enough, mother!” Axel screamed.

I felt his hands on my shoulders as he pulled me close to him. I looked up at him, only to see anger on his face. His eyes showed determination and a willingness to protect.

“How dare you talk back to me, Axel!”

“Destiny has done nothing wrong. She was tired so went to sleep, it’s not her fault. Why do you blame her for everything? Do you have that much hate in you?”

“For that disgrace, yes. Yes, I do. And just for this outburst, she’s not only going to make dinner. She’s not getting any.”

Father just kept reading his book in his chair, pretending not to hear the conversation. Truthfully, he saw me as anything less than human. He acted as if I didn’t exist, which was worse than how my mom saw me.

“That’s enough, mother. Come on, Destiny. I’ll help you make dinner,” Axel said giving a cold stare to mother. He kept his hands on my shoulders the whole time and walked me back to the kitchen. Axel kept his promise and helped me get the meat ready for dinner. We barely talked and when we did, he would tell me that I wasn’t a disgrace. That no matter what, in his eye, I would always be his little sister.

Once dinner was ready, everyone came in and started eating except me. Like mother said, I wasn’t allowed to eat dinner.

“My child, why are you standing there by yourself?” Grandmother said curiously.

“She’s not allowed to eat dinner, mother,” mom said as she ate her food.

“Poppycock! A growing girl needs food and nutrition! Destiny, have a seat next to your old grandma.”

“Mother, I said she’s not allowed to eat!”

“And just who do you think you’re talking to? You may be the girl’s mother, but I am her grandmother, which means my orders outweigh yours!”

Everyone looked at grandma then looked at mom. She was speechless. Mom had no choice, but to listen to grandma.

“Come, dear, sit next to grandma,” she said in a sweet voice as she motioned me to sit.

I walked over to the chair and sat down. She passed me a plate of food and I ate it right away. Axel passed me a glass of water, he smiled at me to drink it. I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast, so this was a true relief. After dinner, grandmother told me to go to bed, much to my mother’s dismay.

I agreed, knowing it was pointless to argue with her. I washed up and went to bed, but not before Axel caught me with a bedtime headlock.