lunar new year [prompt 3] | [guinevere] | [.paris.]
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ xxxxxguin did not have the best childhood by any means. growing up, her father was the authoritarian--anything he said goes, no ifs, ands, or buts. if guinevere even dared to try to stand up against her father, she'd barely be able to get three words out before he'd start hurling out insults like javelins, piercing her soul with every loud scream.
xxxxxher mother wasn't much help, either. she was a meek woman, afraid of her husband and walking on eggshells with every move. guin never really found out what happened between her parents to make them this way, but, of course, she had her suspicions.
xxxxxwhen she was a kid, many teachers and friends took a special interest in her, overhearing her off-color comments about her home life, thinking they were normal. she was often pulled aside and questioned, given a support system, placed a couple calls, but anytime anybody was actually called her father would clean up his act and nothing would get done. guin was sure they were on a list somewhere, but unfortunately that list was a mile long and they were clearly close to the bottom. eventually, social services stopped visiting.
xxxxxguin quickly lost trust in the system, and learned to keep her mouth shut. eventually, concern dissapated, and she was left alone to deal with her problems. she learned how to avoid her father's wrath, do what she needed to do to please him, and eventually escape as soon as she could.
xxxxxthat escape came in the form of a flyer, posted on the lightpost next to her bus stop. it read:
HELP WANTED AT HOLY TRINITY CATHOLIC ORPHANAGE. LOOKING FOR CHILD CARETAKERS. CALL NUMBER BELOW FOR INFORMATION.
xxxxxcurious, guin took the flyer. she called them late in the evening to avoid bothering her father, unintentionally waking up one of the nuns. at first, they were annoyed, but as guin began to explain her predicament, the nun's anger vanished. at the end of the call, at around 2am, guin was offered a job.
xxxxxguin only told a select few where she was going, trying to leave as many people out of the loop as she could. as for her mother, she simply left a note explaining that she was safe and going away for a while, to better herself. the next evening, with a small bag packed, she slipped out the window and walked slowly to the bus stop.
xxxxxwhen she arrived at the orphanage, some restless part of her soul was put to sleep. that lack of belongingness she had always felt finally vanished. it was funny that at a place of forgotten children guin felt most remembered.
xxxxxfortunately, she fit right in. soon, the children were constantly asking for guin, because out of all the people there to talk to them, they felt most connected to her. she knew what they were going through; a camaraderie of battered, abused, forgotten children. she made them feel special, wanted for the first time in their lives.
xxxxxone of the nuns took a special interest in guin, and decided to help train her towards possibly becoming a social worker. guin wanted to dedicate her life to helping children, and she couldn't think of a better way to do it than that.
xxxxxguin's life had been full of hardships, but when she arrived at the orphanage, she realized the reason for her suffering. it was so she could relate to these kids, and help rescue them from their own pain. she slowly came to terms with her own trauma, and used it to drive her towards better things. she was born of bad things, but used it to fuel her passions towards fixing the bad things and turning them, as much as possible, into good things.
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