They had a spirit following them since they were very little. Came in handy given how often they were bullied. The spirit despised bullies. -- Anon Guest
Dawson was born by the railroad tracks. From the instant he drew breath, he had Daisi by his side. This would not be anything remarkable but for one tiny detail. Daisi had been dead for twenty years.
She died on the very spot Dawson was born, in fact.
For the first few years, there was no other hint that she was there. Dawson learned to talk and Daisi was assumed to be an imaginary friend. Until Dawson started drawing pictures of violence being done to a little girl.
"It's how Daisi died," Dawson said. "She's been dead for a very long time and the mean people who did it are old now."
He identified one when he was the television. The man was now an officer of the law. "That's the boy who kickeded Daisy in her eyes. I don't see his friends." But that wasn't the real trouble. The real trouble began when Dawson started going to school and got singled out for 'being weird'.
According to the teacher, three boys approached Dawson as he was talking to Daisi in the playground. They taunted him about it and one of them shoved Dawson.
Leaves kicked up in the immediate area and the shadow of a little girl appeared next to Dawson. The three boys swore the shadow screamed at them and the one who shoved Dawson was shoved back.
Because he was the cause of disruption, the school sent Dawson home.
"I saw the video," said Mom. "Was that Daisi doing all of that?"
Dawson sighed, "I tried to tell her not to," he insisted. "I really tried. Daisi doesn't like bullies. They're the ones who killeded her."
There was a Daisi Marklbaum who was found dead near the train tracks, with the injuries that Dawson mentioned. The now-officer was among the suspects in the investigation. Him and his friends managed to get away with murder.
She, too, had been sent home for being a disturbance. She, too, received no help at all from the authorities she should have maintained a trust in.
Daisy had been betrayed to death before four larger, older boys decided to beat her into a pulp for being openly weird.
"I think we're going to start looking for a better school," said Mom. "Get the both of you away from the cause of Daisi's issues."
"I don't think any school has zero bullies," sighed Dawson.
"Maybe, but there has to be one where they act properly about them."
[Photo by Sophie Dale on Unsplash]
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