This is a one shot! -------------------------------------- He used to say i was his little valentine with his warm but hairy arms wrapping me into a tight hug. He used to say that I was his sweet heart even though my mother thought I was more bitchy than sweet. He used to promise that he would make sure nobody including my terribly insane mother would hurt me. But sometimes promises just break and there is nothing we can do about that. I take a slow deep breath in and i realize that this is my life and I can't change the way it ends up even if I don't like the outcome. All the other children in this house have a grin ear to ear while I have to paint on a smile. This is the third foster home I've been sent to this month and I've been very cautious about my actions from now on since that despicable manager, Teresa Harris said in her usual Do-what-I-say tone of voice "if you don't behave properly here, I will send you to the streets." Let me just mention that I have lived in the streets before and it was awful! The sight of people beating each other just for food, water, or money was just gruesome. I have witnessed a couple of these fights and at the end of it someone is usually dead with a thick pool of blood next to the body. The thought of that happening makes my stomach turn and my head spin. I grasp on to the chair I'm in to make sure I'm still here and not floating away with memories. When I finally calm down, I hold onto my locket. Even that brings back memories of being held by my father and being abandoned by mother who is now locked up in a hospital for all her life. It should make me glad that she's there and not with me, but it doesn't. I was hoping for a worse punishment for her after what she did to me, but of course the judge went easy on her. After trying to murder her own daughter and putting my dad in a deep sleep which he Is still in the hospital to probably remain the rest of his life, I thought she would go to jail for sure. Salty warm tears stream down my unwashed face like rain in April. All the memories of that night rush toward me and there is nothing holding them back. I remember that night like it just happened, my father and I were fast asleep on the brown leather couches down stairs when my mom burst through the door with this grimacing smirk on her face. I heard her coming in so I opened my eyes a little bit to catch a glimpse of her with a green and yellow flowered lamp in her hand, I thought she was just moving it but she smashed it on my Dad's head. "Dad!" I yelled and leaped off the couch I was on and rushed toward him. I shook him repeatedly, but he was out cold. I turn to look at my mother with tears pouring out of my eyes and heart pounding out of my chest. "why would you do this?!" I ask her, stumbling on the words as I say it. "He was up to no good!" She exclaimed. "He wanted to get rid of me!" "Up to no good?! He just wanted to get you some help with your drinking problem!" I snapped back. My face red and covered in salty tears. "you were part of his plan to, weren't you?!" She shouts stumbling back a little. All of sudden she pulls out a knife and sprints toward me ready to pounce. "Mom! Stop! I didn't do anything!" I shout back trying to hold back tears, but it's too late she already jerked her arm forward and tossed her knife in my direction. Then a sharp pain leaps from my arm and a bright red liquid starts trickling out. I screech in pain while I touch my wound. After that I fell to the floor and I was in so much shock that everything turned black and the next time I woke up i was at the hospital with news on the incident. Since my dad is in a deep sleep and my mother is not allowed to be near me, I had to go to a foster home. Usually a kid in this situation would live with a family member, but I can't cause most of them are dead and the ones that are alive refuse to take me. I swallow my sadness and try to hold back tears, but it doesn't work cause tears start coming out anyway. I know he probably won't wake up, but I miss him so much! I still visit him every Sunday and tell him about what's happening in my life even though he might not be able to hear me, I know he still cares about me. I almost forget what day it is until one of the little girls skips towards to me handing me a rose. "Happy Valentines day." The little girl says with a warm kind smile that melts my heart. She comes closer to me and gives me a short hug and then she just walks away. I needed a hug and it was really nice to get one, but the one person it want to hug right here and now is my Dad. I remember my dad would tell me every day "Don't ruin your little heart." I never knew what that meant until now. "Cassidy!" a man with a really deep voice says behind me. I get out of the chair and turn around and I see a face that I couldn't believe was here. A face that brought me so much joy. A face I could trust. It was my Dad. "Dad!" I call out with tears streaming down my face. Then he starts running towards me and hugs me so tightly I couldn't breath. "It's okay sweet heart. Daddy's got you and guess what? We are finally going home." he whispers. "Now tell me, Did you ruin you little heart away when I was gone?" "yes, I did. But it's okay cause I'll be fine." I reply back. If you ruin your heart to early, you only see the bad things in life and then your trapped in a cloud of darkness unable to see possibilities of happiness until someone you care about deeply comes and rescues you. ~Fin~