FRACTAL 2014/11/19(Wed)19:42 No. 603825 ID: 219868
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even though you've lived here your whole life, it still takes your tired hands two tries to grasp the lamp pull on your way in. you drop your bag next to the door and are working on your shoelaces when you hear rummaging from the other room, see the light switch on.

"wilbur?"

"hi, mama." you line your shoes up neatly, toes perfectly aligned against the baseboard. "what are you doing up? you weren't waiting on me, were you?"

"I couldn't sleep." you mother leans in the doorway from the living room to the hall, arms crossed, and waits for you to come to her. you hand her the envelope, and she counts it quickly before pulling out your share – a single $50 bill – and tucking the remainder under her arm.

“thank you, mama.”

Do you completely trust your mother? She's been responsible with your family's money? She doesn't have any vices either, right?

what kinda expenses does your family need that money for? is there anyone else other than yr mother around?

do you think that your mum puts the money to use taking care of you and the rest of your family or do you think shes misusing your funds?

FRACTAL 2014/11/19(Wed)20:26 No. 603846 ID: 219868
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with five younger siblings and two older, money has always been tight. it was the reason you had to start working for ulric in the first place. there wasn't really any other way in the area to make the money your family needed.

it's been especially hard after your father's passing two years ago. your mother is a good woman, but her strictly traditionalist parents raised her to assume a man would always be there to take care of her, and when he died things quickly fell into disarray. you've been doing your best to hold things together, but it's hard when you have to spend most of the time out of the house.

she kisses you on the cheek, snapping you out of your train of thought, and sends you down the hall to your bedroom.

FRACTAL 2014/11/19(Wed)20:27 No. 603847 ID: 219868
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the door across from your bedroom opens as you pass. “wilbur?”

it’s delilah. you turn and pick her up, letting her rest her head on your shoulder. “what’s going on, sweetheart? it’s really early. you should be asleep.”
“but then when i wake up, you’ll be asleep,” she mumbles. she pulls back to look at your face. “i’m really hungry.”

your mouth sets into a tight line. “did mama make you any supper today?”

“no, she wasn’t home.”

“lunch?”

“no…i’m really hungry, though,” she repeats.

you take a deep breath through your nose. “what about your siblings? has anybody been fed today?”

“i dunno. maybe jed and mary might’ve made themselves somethin’. none of the little kids though.”

How did yr father die?
Do any of yr other siblings work? Has yr mother indulged in things other than stuff for the family with the money in the past?
Please make yr poor siblings some sandwiches, or find whatever there is to feed them with-- maybe prepare some easy food for the next day when you aren't there

perhaps it's time to stop letting your mother manage the finances and start saving up to get you and your siblings fed and taken care of. a single $50 aint shit. what's your mother spending the other $750 on?

Well, get the kids fed. Needs to be done.

Something's not right if your mother didn't, though.

What are the two older siblings doing? Cause its clearly NOT helping around the house with the little kids.

FRACTAL 2014/12/05(Fri)18:32 No. 609234 ID: ecb09c
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you roust the young ones from bed. a few of them weren't asleep despite the hour, probably too hungry to rest. it sets your teeth on edge. you hate to wake them, but it would be worse to let them go hungry, and soon you have a cluster of smaller rabbits hanging off your hands and leaning on your legs.

as move around the hallways, the few decorations in the house, all the trappings of family life, set you thinking about the siblings who aren't there. your two older siblings - your brother jacob and sister eleanor - have moved out of the swamp. jacob sends letters, but no money. eleanor sends a christmas card once a year, pictures of herself and her beaver husband, always just bearing a handwritten "merry christmas" and one crisp $100 bill. the card is always tinged with guilt, but not enough to make you forgive her.

jed and mary are the oldest still living in the house besides you. jed is fifteen, just two years younger than you, and has been acting out lately. you worry that he's using. he yells at you when you're home and at your mother when you aren't, refuses to care for the other children, and spends most of his time ... out. you don't know where. he simply leaves for hours at a time. you can't afford to go chasing after him. he isn't in the room he shares with mary when you check, and you find yourself struggling to care when there are four others to look after.

mary is thirteen, and tries to help as much as she can by fishing and selling her catches to other families around the swamp - but that doesn't make very good money when everyone else fishes, too. you suspect that the sales she does make are born out of pity.

the youngest siblings are sharon, delilah, and jacob, and they are ten, six, and four respectively. they are all too young to work, in your opinion. you worked when you were their age, but once your job with ulric began paying well enough, you made it very clear to your mother that you didn't want them working anymore.

FRACTAL 2014/12/05(Fri)18:32 No. 609235 ID: ecb09c
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the cupboards are bare. whatever your mother has been spending the money on, it's not food. you knew you were running low on groceries last week, but she'd assured you she'd get more from the otters over the course of the week. clearly that didn't happen.

jacob is beginning to make the shapeless, wavering noises that precede tears, and you pick him up to quiet him. mary quietly mentions that there are some fish in the icebox that she had failed to sell today, so you find and unwrap them and set to cleaning them.

you are furious, but you can't show it in front of them. knowing that you're upset will only stress them further.

You can worry about whatever your mother is up to later. For now take care of your siblings and get some food on the table.

Afterwards look into where the money has been going. You might need to step up and take over family finances by force.

Why did your parents have so many kids? I understand in rural communities kids are useful for farmwork but this isn't a farm. Four years is the youngest, and I know you've been working to help your family longer than that.

ask your siblings when the last time they saw your mom. dont give her any of the money, use it to buy food while you're there, or give it to mary to buy food, if you think she can handle it. if/when your mom comes back question her about the money, but do not accuse her of anything. do not do this in front of the other children.

Okay, no food on hand.

You have a little bit of cash though, can you order a pizza or something? Get the kids fed. Fix the immediate problem.

Then you are going to have to have a talk with your mother. This is untenable. Something has to change, which means a confrontation.

Next time you get back from Ulric's, have a $50 bill already out of the envelope to hand over to mom. Tell her you need to spend the rest on taking care of her kids.

Feed the kids the fish, then tuck them in and tell them a story. Then confront your mother. Do not let her sleep.

Damn it, why is the thirteen year old the most responsible? Do we have to start entrusting her with groceries? Motherfuck.

>>609235
they have a right to know. or else they'll grow up thinking this is normal, that this is how people live. that parents aren't supposed to take care of them. talk with them calmly, tell them this is not right.

>>609757
yeah. they have to know that this is no way to be treated and that they can and should seek help if it happens again. they have to know that going hungry for what is at LEAST a day is not okay.
tell them this. tell them this is not okay, and that you will talk with your mother about it. tell them that they should tell you if it happens again - and ask them if anything similar has happened, and when. did she hit them? did she starve them? does she drink?

FRACTAL 2014/12/07(Sun)21:22 No. 609910 ID: 6b7ea4
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there was a typo in the last update - the youngest sibling is named reuben, not jacob. sorry for any confusion that may have caused!

the fish sizzles in the pan. the children are impatient and cluster closer to your legs as they wait, but do not complain. you've all been raised not to complain.

you're starting to think it's time for that to change.

when the fish is done cooking you portion it out evenly and serve it between the five of them. you see mary starting to tip her plate up, to put her portion on the youngest's plate, and you gently catch her hand.

"there'll be plenty of food soon. you have to eat."

she looks up at you evenly. her eyes are far too calm and clear. "when?"

you sigh and lean against the counter. she hasn't sat down yet, even though the rest of the siblings are all eating.

"i'm going to talk to mama tonight," you tell her. she looks away, reaching up to pick at a scab on her upper arm.

"you shouldn't wake her up, wilbur."

"i have to. how long has it been since you all last ate? does she do this a lot?"

mary doesn't answer.

"does she ... is she not treating you right? has she raised her hand to you?"

"mama never hits us," mary snaps, and the vitriol in her response almost makes you jump. you're so tired that your first instinct is to yell back, but you rein yourself back in.

"i'm glad she isn't. but that doesn't mean other things aren't wrong." you guide mary to her chair and push the plate in front of her. she stares at it. "mary, why aren't you and the others getting fed properly?"

she shrugs loosely, begins to push the fish from one side of the plate to the other. "i dunno. mama is sad a lot. she stays in her room. the little kids can make food okay by themselves if there is any, but i gotta be out doing the fishing. the only time we don't eat at all is if we run out of food, like now."

"it's not right." you're staring at the wall, shaking your head. "it's not right for her not to be looking after you."

"she's our mama, wilbur," mary argues. "it's not right for you to criticize her."

Whether she's mama or not makes no difference. I know what's right and what's wrong, and this isn't right.

and its not right for her to not take care of all of you

It absolutely is. She's hardly a Mom anymore. If ANYTHING, you're more of a parent more than either of your real parents. It parent's that can;t criticize their children until they exhibit extreme antisocial behavior, as they are the ones that are supposed to be raising the child. All criticism of the child is actually ON the parent, until real personal accountability is finally upon their child, which admittedly is a very grey area of debate of when they should be.

You said Ulfric does a lot of drugs and lives in solitude a lot right? Your Mom might be doing that in her room. She's sad because of withdrawal symptoms. I mean, if she HASN'T been purchasing groceries, that means she has quite the stockpile of cash. What IS she doing with it? Is it just sitting there collecting dust?

"Criticism is how people grow, you'd do well in life if you always keep that in mind."

You are too tired too argue with her right now, so that's not the direction we need to be steering this conversation. Just tell her you can't allow this to happen anymore because you love the little kids(her included) and its not good for them to be skipping so many meals.
Then go wake mom up and give her shit for being a shit mom (quietly so as not to disturb the kids. Maybe you should give them a goodnight kiss or a hug or a pat on the head or something.

>it's not right for you to criticize her
Maybe not. But it's not right for children not to be fed, either, and there's no one else to talk to her. Pa's not here.

>>609910
as a person, you have a right to be angry when you are mistreated. she has a responsibility towards you. that obligation is far stronger than any right she has for respect. when she fails in her responsibilities you are the ones that are hurt, and when that happens you have the right to be angry.

>>609910
it's not right for you to starve.

Not at all.

Just because she is our mother does not mean she is infallible.

Besides if she is not looking out for you like she should it might mean she is sick or distracted. I need to go help her if something bad is happening.

FRACTAL 2014/12/09(Tue)12:00 No. 610273 ID: 6b7ea4
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"it may not be right for me to criticize her, but it's absolutely not right that she isn't taking care of you. and no matter what, i can't let this keep happening."

mary has nothing to say to that. it seems everyone but her has finished eating, so you tell her to take her time and usher the rest of the children back into bed. as soon as that's done, you turn back down the hallway and stop outside of your mother's bedroom door.

you're not sure how you want to do this.

put on yr game face and be prepared for a whole lotta denial tbh. you gotta be strong and stay focused- maybe just start out with 'i fed the kids'- that should clue her into where youre going with this.
remember, the fact that shes yr mother doesnt mean shit rn- you gotta be thinking about your siblings.
sorry you gotta be the one to do it

Just straight up ask about why the children haven't eaten all day.

Do not go barging in yelling accusations. Will just cause her to go on the defensive and you will have a hard time finding out what is going on.

Your mother could be in the grips of depression or hooked on drugs or have some other bad thing going on in her life. She might need your help. Just try to avoid making any assumptions until you find out more.

So knock on the door and see how she is doing.

Smoothly ask her if she is ok, then ask if she needs any help, then after that it's time to get gritty and make sure she knows that children should have food and be taken care of.

also it's a scene of door with someone standing infront of it... there could be a surprise behind it...possibly a body.....I'm prepared

Knock.

Mother, we need to talk.

knock, but do not wait for an answer before going in. tell her that you fed the kids, that you're out of food, and ask her how she's doing. do not accuse her of anything, try to keep your tone light. do not let the situation escalate, your siblings do not need to hear any of this. do not let her talk you into giving her the money, your siblings need someone who can consistently take care of them, and she's already proven herself unworthy.

((also brace yourself before going in, something bad could be behind that door.))

As the mother of someone too young to take care of themselves, her responsibility is to her children, above even her own life. Give her the chance to tell her own side of the story, but don't let her get away with distorting those priorities.

FRACTAL 2014/12/18(Thu)16:44 No. 612999 ID: 6b7ea4
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you raise your hand and knock, slowly, three times.

"mama? we need to talk."

no answer. you knock again, harder this time.

"mama. i want to talk to you. now." you're trying to keep your voice from hardening, but you can't. your patience was thin to begin with, and now it's worn through.

FRACTAL 2014/12/18(Thu)16:45 No. 613000 ID: 6b7ea4
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when another long silence stretches out between you and the door you reach for the handle, unwilling to wait until she's ready to respond - because that could be never. but when you twist the handle, it jars almost immediately into the rotation. the door is locked.

this door is never locked. it doesn't even have a lock - or it didn't, the last you knew. she must have installed it when you were away.

"mama?"

...
Credit card trick? With something card like.
Are you sure she hasn't barricaded it?
I'd almost suggest breaking it down but... I don 't know. That would be expensive.

>>613000

This'll only end in tears....give up and start taking care of the family. There's only one good reason she'd hide herself away like this

>>613002
yea, i'd agree. Steel yourself for what might be behind that door...

I do think you will need to go in tho. You will need money. Can you pick the door in anyway?

Does the room she's in have a window, or some other exit?

First resort should be lock picking, second an outside window, last breaking the door in. We absolutely need to find out what's going on in there though, one way or another.

you definitely need to get in there. whether it's to tell your mom to start taking care of the kids or to convince her to get help for what's maybe depression?? you need to talk to her. so knock louder, or break down the fucking door.

>>613000
that is incredibly suspicious. she's hiding something! you must get through that door!

No breaking in.

We'll try talking again in the morning. If she won't listen, and she's locked herself away like this though, something will have to change. You'll have to arrange for the children to be taken care of, and stop trusting her with the money.

FRACTAL 2014/12/23(Tue)17:09 No. 614624 ID: 6b7ea4
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loretta taught you to pick locks when you were a child, and you never thought you'd use it. you're surprised you even remember how to do it. but you manage to find a hairpin and a thin file and use them to work the door open.

your mother is sitting on the floor, on the far side of the bed. you can only see her head. she doesn't react when you enter - there's no way she could have been suprised, with how long it took you to get in the door.

"mama." you slowly start to walk around the bed to reach her. "we need to talk about this now."

"wilbur ..."

you stop short when you reach the edge of the bed. there is money everywhere. it must be thousands and thousands of dollars. she has many bills spread over her lap, not yet counted into neat stacks, her limp hands resting palm-up. "there is nothing to talk about."

"You're sitting there buried under thousands of dollars and there's no food in the house, there is plenty to talk about. What's going on here?"
Don't be mad yet, we still don't know what the full deets are.
This looks reaaaaally bad though.

What is this, Mama? Why haven't you spent any of this? There's no food in the kitchen.

what the fuck mom

"Mama, if I can't trust you with the finances, I'm afraid I'm going to have to take over. This is not healthy."
"What are you doing?"

FRACTAL 2014/12/23(Tue)18:00 No. 614634 ID: 6b7ea4
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"mama..." you have to grip the dresser against the wall for support. there's no way you can count it just by looking, but it's clearly months and months of work. your work. months of never seeing your siblings. months of sleeping alone. "what is this? why haven't you spent any of this?"

she turns her face away. "i'm going to spend it."

another alternate reality plays in your mind, one where you dive and your hands close on her jaw, one where you twist her face to look at you and you scream. those things never happen in real life, though. in real life it takes you a long time to formulate a response.

"you need to be spending it now. on the children."

she's rubbing one of the bills between forefinger and thumb and for some reason the sound makes you feel like vomiting. you raise your voice. "there's no food in the house, mama."

her fingers don't stop moving. you raise your voice even more, trying desperately to keep the change only in volume and not in temper. "they went hungry today."

FRACTAL 2014/12/23(Tue)18:01 No. 614636 ID: 6b7ea4
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she stops. her head does not move when she speaks. "you watch how you speak to me, boy."

She's saving up for something.
Or she thinks she does.

You are the one making the money of the house Wilbur, she may be your mama, but she's letting the children starve, do not back down from her.

Ask her what is so important she will let her kids starve, and that you will speak to her as you will like considering you make the money so that your family WOULD not starve but instead find that she's sitting pretty in all the money YOU earned.

>you watch how you speak to me, boy.
I am, Mama, I am.

I wouldn't change a word of it. This is wrong.

FRACTAL 2014/12/23(Tue)18:37 No. 614647 ID: 6b7ea4
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"you don't get to object to my tone when you're letting the children starve." the words feel clunky and uncomfortable on your tongue, and you barely manage to spit them out. you reach up to rub at the corners of your mouth before speaking again. "this is wrong, mama."

she stands slowly, bills fluttering to the ground, and steps on them as she turns to face you. "i am your mother," she whispers, "and i will do what i like, and you will do as you are told."

"not if it hurts them." dread is twisting in your stomach, cold and thick.

"i can hurt every one of you as much as i need." her voice is rising, she's walking towards you, you want to shrink back but it's too late, her hand is on your wrist and you don't know how she's so strong, how she overpowers you as easily as she did when you were a small child, and she's twisting your arm back and screaming.

"i am your mother! it is my god-given right! children exist to serve their parents!"

FRACTAL 2014/12/23(Tue)18:38 No. 614648 ID: 6b7ea4
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this is not an unfamiliar string of words. your eyes are beginning to glass over, the way they always do when her voice is so loud and her grip is so tight.

"that's why i gave you to the wolf in the first place!" she's shrieking, but her voice sounds muffled and distant to you. "because it was my right!"

...
Fight her.
I don't care. She can't be their mother anymore. She can't believe this anymore.
YOU FIGHT HER. DON'T FEAR HER ANY MORE. SHE CAN'T HURT YOU ANYMORE.

be careful, though. if she's screaming, the kids can hear, and if they walk in while the two of you are in a physical fight they could get hurt.

that being said, though, if you react how you always do, nothing will change. rip your arm away from her and shove her off as hard as you can.

What the hell does she need that she neglects her children?

Alright, she's gone on long enough. Strike.

KICK 'ER RIGHT INNA FORK

this is a matter of life and death. you might not be able to beat her with your bare hands. look for a weapon

You're no child, Wilbur. Every day, you spend over eight hours tending to the whims of a sociopath who's past his prime and too depressed with how fucked up his life is to make yours better. Every night, you schedule resources so that your family doesn't starve. You're no longer a child, and even if your mother's bull^&*( belief that children are the slaves of their parents is true, it sure as hell isn't applicable to you now.

FIGHT BACK. Your boss gives more of a @#$% about you than he does your mother. Sending her to a mental hospital is probably a reasonable idea and your boss will likely agree, if only for the lulz.

At least your mother hasn't spent all of it on the drugs yet. But seriously, why does she need to hoard all that money? Something's wrong - if she was planning on blowing it on drugs or prostitutes, she would likely have taken better care of the cash. Maybe she's trying to perform some kind of ritual offering in hopes of bringing her husband back?

Take a moment to realize that you have options. You have a boss who is filthy rich and bored. Your mother isn't some kind of rage demon who can overpower you and all of her other children at once. There are mental hospitals for people who have lost their minds, and they've done enough experiments to get a rough idea of how the mind works. You're a smart man, Wilbur, so stop feeling helpless and start thinking.

Doing nothing will change nothing. I'm not sure fighting her is the best option, but it is better than letting things continue the way they have been.

He's obviously been beaten and battered before by her...as someone who knows what this is like. It crumples you and turns you into a weak beaten puddle of useless.

The only way he's going to fight back is
A: he snaps and she's toast as he unleashes everything he's ever held in

or

B: he finds someone to help him

otherwise he's going to curl into a ball and take the beating that's coming

>>614667
I hope it's A because nobody's coming to help him, and curling up into a ball is just going to continue the status quo.

Please Wilbur, for your brothers and sisters, fight back. There's probably a better option but right now but you're in a corner. Even if you kill her it would be better, but please hold yourself together if you do go that far. She's too dangerous to allow this anymore. She's gone too far for too long.

Take her down.

What Would Wilbur Do?

>>614661
I reiterate:
KICK
HER
INNA
FORK

FRACTAL 2014/12/23(Tue)19:46 No. 614687 ID: 6b7ea4
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there's an alternate reality where you fight back.

you've seen it a lot of times. sometimes while it's happening. sometimes afterwards, when you're watching her walk away. sometimes in between, in times of false calm that are really just waiting periods, stretching from one beating to the next. you always fight her, but quickly and efficiently, like in a movie - she ends up on the floor, but not hurt. there's never any blood or bruising. you just ... win.

but that's a fantasy, and this is the real world, and in the real world this has been happening for too long, and you are too tired and too terrified and too trained. you try. you think of the children and you raise your arm, but the movement is uncertain and clumsy and she slaps it away and shoves you to the floor.

"i'm leaving," she's panting. "i'm taking the money and leaving. i'm going to go so far away that i'll never think of this place again."

you used to dream that there was a river out of the swamp. your body jerks as you hit the wall. a river, cool and clear all the way to the bottom, all smooth pebbles and gently waving waterplants, with tiny silver minnows and crawfish in the spring. a river you could lay in, and you'd float easily, and it would carry you away and out of the swamp.

but that's a dream, and this is the real world, and in the real world there is no river out of the swamp.

"i've had enough of you." you can hear sounds, but they aren't arranging themselves into meaningful words. "i never asked for this. i never asked for any of you."

you are aware of footsteps. your mother is not.

Get up
Get UP
Do not let her take that money.
Stop her. GET UP.

"We never asked for you, You horrible selfish fuck. Leave, you won't ser another cent from me."

irony attack. stab her in the eye with your glasses.

>>614687
Wilbur!
If you let her walk away now you'll forever regret it!
Goddamnit, Wilbur get up!
GET UP GET UP GET UP GET UP GET UP

>>614687
"you are aware of footsteps. your mother is not."

does this mean there's others in here? I doubt the kids would make loud footsteps.....

Tell Ulric about this next time you see him.

Tell her not to talk about your siblings that way. If those footsteps are who I think they are, they'll appreciate you sticking up for them.

So what would you even do. You depend entirely on me to do anything for money, I mean the only thing she was good for was spreading her legs and that's it, going to whore herself on the street once all that runs out, she aint pretty enough to try and find a man, not looking strung out as she is.

i know im very much in the minority here, but . . . wilbur, stay down.

she's violent and potentially dangerous. if you let her take the money, this could just end here. you can tell ulric what happened and i'm sure he would give you an emergency advance on your pay.

money can be replaced. your safety is more important than winning against her right now.

how long have your siblings been without food? do you think mary was telling the whole truth? will they all still be alive in a week? this isn't your life on the line.

stay down. let her gather up whatever money she wants, and let her go. you can make more money. you can take care of the children on your own, but this is not healthy. you're better off letting her leave.

She lost her right to be a parent a long time ago, and she has no idea how the real world works. Just let her run away and face that harsh reality, you need to take care of the kids.

>you are aware of footsteps. your mother is not.
Turn, who's there?

>i'm taking the money and leaving.
If you let her do that, all the sacrifice will be for naught. Your brothers and sisters will starve, and nothing you have done will have mattered.

Get up.

She's not leaving. She doesn't know how.

Wilbur, ignore the angry ghost wearing your mother's face. It can make noise and it can walk around and follow the old routines but it can't do anything that matters. Your mother died a long time ago, all the important parts of her anyway. There may be no river out of the swamp but there is a door out of this one room. Go. Crawl, if you have to.

Go back to your little siblings and tell them you found a pile of money, a whole bunch, enough to buy some really nice food and even things like clothes and toys. First, though, it's time to play a game.

The game is called "Dragon's Hoard." Mom is going to play the dragon, and be as big and scary as she can, and all of us are going to be the brave adventurers. Whichever adventurer grabs the most money without being caught wins. There are no other rules to Dragon's Hoard; you can be as sneaky as you want. One good way is to all rush in at once so the dragon is distracted.

>>615400
That would be kinda patronizing to them, would endanger the kids, and all in all is a terrible idea.
These are some canny kids, maybe, but if this terrible excuse for a person can beat up grown-ass-man wilbur, a bunch of tiny kids aren't gonna fare any better.

Fine. Whatever. If your mother leaves, you don't have to feel guilty - it's her choice to run out on her family, and she has enough money to get by on her own.

You are NOT destitute. You have fifty dollars to spend on food, that should be more than enough for one day. You still work for a rich guy. If you tell him what happened, he might laugh vigorously and pay you for the story. I don't think he'll object to letting your siblings stay over at his mansion now that there's no real reason to stay here. Not like he uses most of it anyway. He might order them to stay in the basement, but that's much better than starving to death.

Maybe you can't beat your mother, but remember this: she's a slave too. Your grandparents trained her to follow a set code of laws, and now she's stuck in a situation that those laws never gave her protocol for. She obeyed the concept of man of the house, and now her husband is dead and you're not beating or @#$%ing her, so she's at a loss of what to do. She's incapable of realizing that her Fundamental Christian "order" is imperfect, or doesn't apply to her situation the way she thinks it does, and now she's left blaming herself, demonizing herself, for being unable to follow her laws, even though it's nearly impossible and crazy to try to live up to this ridiculous standard. The end result is that she thinks she deserves to hurt others because in her mind, everyone has failed to uphold the law and must be punished.

Look, if she leaves, let her. But if she tries to kill her children, fight back in self-defense. If she goes for the kids, grab a weapon and throw its weight, lose control of the blunt object by throwing it into her neck. Let the weapon fight for you.

Money can be replaced. But lives and memories can not.

If she tries to hurt you or your siblings stop her. If not just let her go. Would be better for your siblings to remember there mother in a better light than what you are seeing now. Try to keep them out of this mess.

As long as you all are alive and well you can survive this and move on.

As for the footsteps are they the heavy footsteps of a adult? Or are they the lighter ones of a child. Either way be prepared to react to whoever is coming near.

FRACTAL 2014/12/26(Fri)18:33 No. 615699 ID: 6b7ea4
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there are too many conflicting things jostling for position in your blurry mind. the footsteps - could it be the children? - you have to get up, what if they try to stop her from leaving - you're starting to push yourself up on your arms but they're shaking with fear and weariness and you can barely breathe.

FRACTAL 2014/12/26(Fri)18:33 No. 615700 ID: 6b7ea4
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another noise, not loud, but sudden, and the floor shakes a bit. a thump? a crash? you manage to look up enough to see your mother, slumped over on the floor, and a shadow falling over her groaning form.

FRACTAL 2014/12/26(Fri)18:33 No. 615701 ID: 6b7ea4
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"wilbur?"

+end of chapter 3+

wait what

...Merry Christmas, Wilbur.

Merry Christmas.

Now please tie up your mother before she does something that your entire family is going to regret.

Also, where's Paris? Loretta, did something happen to Paris? Loretta?

Wilbur: "...Sis? Can I borrow that club for a minute?"

Make sure she's still breathing and try to stop the bleeding. She needs to go to the hospital. If you call them tell them she fell and whacked her head against the edge of the dresser.

intermission: http://tgchan.org/kusaba/quest/res/615711.html

Oh, hey Loretta.

>>615714
nah, whack her again