Broken Family

"I don't care what you want, just get out of this house! You lazy bum, I can't believe I wasted 15 years of my life with YOU!"

A young Once-ler listened from the staircase as his parents fought. Again. For the 20th time this week. Things were getting pretty serious at this point, even his older brothers were around him, listening to the fate of their beloved father.

"And what do you think you're gonna do, huh? Deirdre, you don't fucking work! How are you going to support the boys?! They need to go to school, and college, and need to have a normal life!"

"We can always move in with my sister Grizelda."

"Oh Lord, why don't you just send them to prison?"

"Harold!"

"Well I'm sure they'd enjoy it more!"

Once-ler pulled his knees closer to him, ducking his head. He felt a hand rubbing his back, and looked up to see it was Brent's. At his little brother's shocked face, Brent whispered, "Don't get used to it." Once-ler nodded, ducking his head again.

"They love their aunt and uncle VERY much!"

"Oh, I'm sure! Then why did Brent and Chet cause that horrible uprising on the way there last time?"

"Well Oncie likes them."

"HA!"

"What's that for?"

"Once-ler doesn't like them any more than Brent and Chet do! He's just better at hiding it. Haven't you noticed how he never talks to them, and how he's always uncomfortable around them? Let's face it Deirdre, moving them there would only help you."

"And I'm not allowed to be helped?!"

"Not if it runs the risk of hurting your boys!"

"Aw, they just need to toughen up. Become men!"

"DEIDRE! They're only 10 and 5!" there was a slamming, like someone's hands were hitting the table. "When I was their ages-"

"But you're not." A sharp voice pointed out. "You're not, and you need to stop acting like you are. You are an adult, with responsibilities. You can't blow your entire day playing video games with the twins and teasing Oncie with those silly dreams of his!"

"But those dreams are amazing! I think he's going to change the world someday!"

"Oh blah, blah, blah! You know nothing good is going to come out of this family, Harold. Just look at us. I was going to be a famous actress, and you were going to be a billionaire with your own company and stocks. But, here we are broke as can be, arguing at 11 at night. We had dreams. We could have done something! But NO! We had to get married! We had to settle down and have a family!"

"If I recall correctly, you wanted a family as well!"

"Well maybe I don't now!"

"No, no. I know what this is about. I know why you're brushing off Once-ler's dreams. It's because you only wanted TWO kids, wasn't it? And when you found out about him, well you just started hating him from the start, now didn't you?"

"Harold, you know that's not true."

"Oh really? REALLY?! You spend no time with him, and when you DO talk to him, it's only to criticize him. He spends all his free time in his room, has no friends, and won't talk to anyone. And I cannot believe that that's all a "fluke" like you say it is."

"You're a horrible man."

"Stop trying to change the subject, we're talking about our children here!"

"Fine. FINE! How about you, huh? You spend all this time building up their confidence about how great they can be, but we both know that's not going to happen! Our children aren't going to become successful, and we both know it. It's time to accept it and move on."

"To what? What do we move onto after that?! Telling them that they have no future?! Hell, you may as well just pull them out of school!"

"You know what?" his mother said, her words short and to the point. "I can't take this anymore. I can't take this fighting, and this little piece of shit house in this piece of shit neighborhood, and all of this. And, you know, when I think back to how this all started… it started the moment I said "I do" to you. So, you can just walk that "I'm so much better than you" ass out of here, and never come back. Do you understand me Harold?"

"Deirdre, what about the kids? What about them? You just can't make these decisions like that, think about them for a change!"

"I'm thinking about them alright!" Deirdre exclaimed, her voice rising to a shrill scream. "I'm thinking about how much happier they're going to be without you! So just LEAVE!"

Once-ler couldn't take it anymore. Not the fighting, yelling, or all these horrible truths. He let out a strangled sob, burying his face in his hands. Brent and Chet shushed him, trying not to let him get too loud.

"Brent! Chet! Once-ler!" their mother screamed. "Go to bed! Now!"

Not thinking, Once-ler pulled himself out of his brother's arms and ran down the stairs. Quickly attaching himself to his father's leg, he sobbed, "Don't go. Don't go! I don't want you to leave us! Please, Daddy, I love you!"

He buried his face in the crinkled pant leg, and as the smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke filled his lungs, he could hear his mother yelling at him. He tuned it out though, clinging onto his beloved father for dear life. Once-ler felt himself being picked up by a pair of strong hands. Looking up, he saw his father's dark brown eyes, messy blonde hair and stubbly chin before him. Once-ler wrapped his arms around his father's neck, repeating over and over again, "Don't leave, Daddy."

"Oncie, I… I might have to."

"No you don't!" he exclaimed, pulling back. "You can't leave, cause then we won't be a family anymore. And no one'll teach me how to play guitar! You promised you would, dad! You promised!"

"I know, I know." His dad said calmly. "I know I did."

"And, and you said that you were gonna help me with my invention! And, and you were gonna take me to your work, and you were gonna… we were gonna… don't go, daddy. Please…"

"Oncie, quit your crying!" his mom exclaimed. "You're just being melodramatic."

His father held Once-ler close to him. "I know, I know. I promised you all those things. And I promised Brent and Chet things too… but I don't know if we can do that anymore."

"But you said never break a promise!" Once-ler exclaimed, tears running down his face.

"And hopefully I won't." his father reassured him. "Maybe this is just a temporary thing. Your mommy and I need some space, or we're going to keep the whole neighborhood up all night. Maybe I can come back, in a month or two." He set Once-ler down, kneeling before him. "Just don't forget, you can do anything! No matter what people tell you, you're smart, and you know what to do… you too Brent and Chet!" Once-ler sniffled, wiping his now runny nose with his pj sleeve. "And I know you're gonna do something great."

"Not likely." His mother muttered under her breath.

His dad sent a threatening glare her way, and then looked back to his youngest son. "Don't forget that, alright?" he nodded, and the father stood. "Good. You're a good boy, Oncie." he ruffled his son's raven black hair, then looked to Deirdre. "You want me gone? Fine. I'll be back soon to get my things."

"Get out." His mother said in a low, dark, threatening tone of voice. "Get out of this house right now and never come back."

The boy's dad looked to the woman he used to love, then to the boys who he still loved. Finally, with a sigh, he grabbed his worn leather jacket that was haphazardly thrown across the kitchen counter, and stalked to the door, slamming it behind him.

"What the hell are you boys still doing up?" the now single mother asked. "Get to bed now. I don't want to hear a single word out of you three."

Brent and Chet shuffled up the stairs to their room, but Once-ler stayed for a moment. Very quietly, looking at the ground, he asked, "Can I go with daddy?"

"No." his mother answered, sharp and harsh. "You are never seeing that psychopath of a man again. Now go upstairs, and don't let me hear you ever talk about him again."

Defeated and tired, Once-ler slunk up the stairs and into his small room. The walls were plastered with superheros and drawings that he'd made. As he entered and flopped down onto his Superman sheeted bed, he saw a picture that he had drawn of his family. In a sudden fit of rage, he grabbed it off the wall, tearing it apart until little pieces of it were strewn all around the bed. Kicking them away, he felt tears come to his eyes again and he flopped against the musty pillow, tired angry and sad. He groped aimlessly under the bed, because the monsters under there didn't seem as scary now, for a stuffed animal to hold onto tonight. Wrapping his fingers around one, he pulled up a small stuffed teddy bear, with one eye missing and the stuffing falling out.

Once-ler didn't even care at that point. He held it close to him as he pulled the covers over himself. No bedtime story, no kiss goodnight, no nothing. He was alone. His hero was gone, and he couldn't do anything about it. He just had to face facts.

From that day forth, he was living in a broken family. And he would never, ever be able to get the pieces back together.