- username: diamondfox
name: Judas
gender: male
prompt answer:
I wept in my room alone, sorrow heaving the tears from my eyes. I was six years old, and my mother was a drunk. We lived in a small house, it was always dirty and moldy. My father had to work long hours, earning the bare minimum- and my mother spent it all on her alchohol. I'd been bullied at school, asked why I'd always worn the same outfit every single day. I couldn't answer, couldn't tell them the truth- they were the only clothes I had. And so, as my father heard my weeping, he walked into the room my two brothers and I shared, and he rubbed my back. "Shh. It's ok. I know it's hard Judas." He sniffed, as if about to cry. "But- let me tell you a secret. You just have to put on a crown. You're above it all. Don't listen to those kids. Ok. You're the king of your life- your future. Your mother, her actions, can't control you." He sniffed again as tears dropped down my cheek, soaking into his dirty, worn out pants. He brushed away my tears and kissed my forehead. "Judas- don't listen to them. Just imagine you have a crown, and you will never back down. You're above them. You have to be strong, for us. You're my eldest son alright? Your brothers, they need you."
And so- I did. I kept on my crown for years and years. I ignored the kids taunting me and staring. It was my fate- not theirs. My future- not theirs. I was strong. My mother- she didn't affect me anymore. I ignored her. She'd never, ever, break my crown. And as I wanted to weep every night when she'd come home, cussing and laughing, clearly drunk, I'd whisper to myself, "I'm the king of my fate." And I'd shudder under those covers- but it was ok. I had to be strong, and my brothers never once saw me cry. I cradled them when they cried, telling them what Daddy had told me.
It was all fine, we held on- untill that night. My mother was the worst she'd been in a while. She'd brought a gun into the house- and she shot my father. She told me she'd shoot me too if I didn't leave with my brothers. So- I left. I found a neighbor who let us in and we called 911. The next morning, we were homeless. Our mother was in prison, our father dead. My brothers were sent to orphanages, and I never saw them again. I lived out my life alone in the orphanages. Nobody wanted a 14 year old boy to take care of. And that was how my crown shattered.
