I am currently writing to you from the highest branch in a huge tree I found in our backyard. My family is sitting at the foot of the tree. I heard my brother say that they would wait because I had to come down at some point. Foolish humans...

"Hello?"

Tabitha had picked up the home phone and walked away, heading for her bedroom.

Emery wanted to know what was going on so he went to his own room and picked up his blue telephone. He made sure not to make any noise as he listened to the conversation,

"Yes, I am Emery's nanny. My name is Tabitha Tart and I've been here for over a year," Tabitha's voice rattled out.

An unfamiliar male voice responded,

"I'm sorry to inform you...Mr. and Mrs. Guillon have been in an accident..."

"An accident? What kind? Are they alright?"somehow, Tabitha's questions did not sound genuine.

There was a pause.

"The car they were in collided with another on the highway.... unfortunately they both died on their way to the hospital"

Emery was frozen. He slowly lowered the phone. Emery had never been particularly close to his parents but that didn't change the fact that they were his parents. They were his only life support before Tabitha. Despite this, Emery was not sad. He did not shed a single tear over the news of his parents' death. He was just numb. He had already been feeling lost because of his new living situation; with this added on there was nothing at all left to hope for...except his own death.

Tabitha never mentioned his parents' death, he had no idea whether or not she knew that he knew. He didn't care. Emery went on with each day routinely. He did his best to limit contact with his nanny and his tutor and did extra studies online for fun. Before his 15th birthday, February 14th, he had applied for, tested for, and revived, his high school diploma. He had used the backup credit card his parents had given him for his fifth birthday and a fake identity to register for his classes.

With all the extra studying Emery had been doing, his mind had matured quickly. He was far more intelligent than the average 15-year-old boy and his senses and general perception were sharper. With his new mind, 15-year-old Emery was bored of his life and wanted something new. He began planning; he wanted to start earning money so that he could escape but he had to do so secretly. Emery somehow knew that Tabitha would try to prevent him from leaving. He was surprised she had stayed after his parents death, with no flowing income, he wondered what sustained her financiallly.

In all his time knowing Tabitha, Emery had never once suspected her love for him. He was oblivious to many signs even with his sharp mind. Emery did not doubt his nanny's intentions until the day of his 16th birthday. He had been feeling even more awkward around his nanny because he had recently started going through puberty. He had told her about his....becoming a man when she asked him why he was washing his pajama pants by hand in his bathtub. Once he told her she had frozen, nodded, then briskly shuffled to her room where he heard her quietly conversing with Trina yet again.

That night, both Tabitha and Trina had come to tuck him in. They cooed over him and said he was really a man now, being a teenager. Tabitha gave him a mug of hot chocolate and a cookie that she made herself, and Trina gave him a tight hug before they both left the room. Emery was not in the best mood that night and consequently wasn't very hungry but he didn't want to make the girls upset. He peeked at his door before quickly grabbing the food and tiptoeing to the door in his room leading to the bathroom. He took a bite of the cookie and then dropped it in the toilet and poured the hot chocolate in as well after taking a sip of it.

Emery was about flush everything away when he noticed something disturbing, the toilet water was not just swimming with cookie crumbs and hot chocolate. In the water lay many tiny colorful specks. He wasn't sure what they were and tried to rack his mind when he heard shuffling. He quickly shut the lid of the toilet and flushed. He then tiptoed back to his bed and slipped in but felt something. He shifted his covers and saw a small syringe. It was only half full and there was a bit of blood on the tip. There was something written on the side he and vowed to check it out the next morning. He darted into his closet and tucked the syringe into the pocket of his raincoat before returning to his bed. He was making himself comfortable in bed by wiggling around but suddenly his limbs began failing him. He was awake but he couldn't move.

Just then, the door handle began to jiggle. Emery closed his eyes and feigned sleep as the footsteps of Tabitha and Trina entered his room. He tried to crack his eyes open to peek but he couldn't move his eyelids. He was terrified and hoped it was all a bad dream. Alas, it was not a dream as he felt hands slipping into his pajamas. He felt lips and hot breath all over his body and then they stopped. Tabitha's voice rang out first,

"I call going first,"

Trina responded with a sigh,

"Fine...I don't care just do it"

Suddenly hands roughly pulled off his pajama bottoms and briefs at once. What happened next Emery could only describe as "wrong".

At some point, Emery had fallen asleep. He woke up feeling refreshed yet unclean. His clothes weren't out of place, there wasn't a drop of sweat on his body but his mind felt horribly filthy.

For some reason Emery felt as though he needed to die. That he needed to end his life right then and cleanse the Earth of his presence.

After finally working up the courage to exit his bed, Emery slowly made his way to the kitchen where he saw his nanny and his tutor awaiting him at the kitchen table. They both looked unnaturally content.

Tabitha spoke first,

"Have a nice night bud?"

Emery knew he probably shouldn't let on what he had seen and felt so he lied,

"It was great—I slept like a baby"

Emery pretended not to notice the sighs of relief. He knew they weren't because they were glad he slept well.

There was an awkward pause until Trina decided to make an announcement,

"I'm sorry to say this—I'm going to be leaving today"

A bit of hope leaked into Emery's heart hearing this and he looked at his tutor in surprise. Tabitha seemed just as surprised as he was. She looked at Trina in confusion.

Trina seemed to drink in the heavy atmosphere and she smirked. Without saying a word she walked over to the front door where a duffle bag was waiting, opened it, and headed out.

Tabitha looked at Emery and he looked back at her, unsure how to react. Tabitha wordlessly headed back up the stairs and slammed her door.

A few hours later, Tabitha reappeared. Emery had been completing a complex puzzle on his own in the living room when Tabitha bluntly announced that she would also be leaving. She then proceeded to drag her three large suitcases down the stairs and out the front door to an awaiting shuttle.

Once the front door shut Emery looked around. He couldn't really process all that had happened in the span of a few days—he was lost.

That is where will end for today. There is nothing wrong with me but I feel like shouldn't simply reel everything out at once. Until tomorrow.

Your waiting recipient,

Pudding