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"The bad man is make-believe. He can't be real. Monsters are all dead,"
Parts of my heart think already that Daddy is the bad man. But my other part doesn't wanna believe it. He's my Daddy. I'm his Mella Moo. Daddy loves me. He does all the things he can the best ways he can. I know he does. But I can hear them sometimes, at night. Her crying all low and soft, begging him to stop. To leave her be. Begging him to not hurt her anymore.
That mommy could scream and scream and scream and nobody would come.
The bad man is in Daddy’s brain.
I love her the mostest 'cause she lives locked away in a castle in the great big scary forest, just like me. And 'cause she loves the beast like I love my Daddy.
And I want him to tell me that I’m his little Mella Moo, princess in the tall trees, and then sing me a song before he turns off the light.
and suddenly I’m so angry. Angry at her for having to stay locked up in this place to keep us safe and angry at Daddy for leaving and not saying goodbye and angry at this stupid little house for being in the middle of the tall, tall trees and the wild dogs that run and bite and bark and scream!
Were all daddies mean and scary sometimes? Maybe daddies have to be.
I didn’t wanna make her sadder in her heart than her voice already told me she was.
I just want Momma to remember that Daddy loves us. That he would never hurt us. Not really. That it’s the bad man. Even though part of me whispers right then into my heart and brain that Daddy is the bad man, and that maybe I’m a liar, too. ‘Cause I don’t want to believe it’s true.
She’s my daughter now, not his! You're my wife now, not his. That’s our baby that we made and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Daddy really was the bad man. He really really was. And maybe Momma wasn’t such a liar after all.
I should have knowed that Momma was telling the truth. I should have let her tell me all the truths.
“Why does Daddy hurt you?”
I feel the fear turned all into something different. Something excited and bright and warm. I’m on a ‘venture like a real life superhero. Magnificent Mella, that’s who I am now. And I’m going to save my family, 'cause that’s what heroes do.
It’s a sea of shadows in the tall trees, and I’m just a little mouse, and the big bad wolf is gonna eated me all up.
