RUNAWAY

"Ivy! Ivy! Ivy!"

Ivy faintly heard her name being called repeatedly but she was too weak to stand up. Her body was burning up and she felt feverish, it didn't help that she was sleeping on the bare floor which was wet and cold. Scared that her stepmother would punish her harshly, she struggled to get up but her strength failed her, finally, she gave up and lost consciousness.

The chilly feeling of cold water being splashed recklessly on her face, jolted Ivy back to life. As she shivered, she looked up to see her pregnant stepmother Lucy staring down at her with so much anger in her eyes. As she opened her mouth to speak, Lucy's large palm swiftly landed on her little cheeks causing her face to sting.

Ivy cried out in pain and subconsciously held her cheeks with her hands.

"You lazy bone," Lucy roared, "how many times have I told you to make sure you wake up before I do? You are just as useless as your dead mother. The dishes have not been washed, the garden has not been watered and you have not even mopped the floor.

Do you expect me to do all these chores in my condition? Or maybe you are waiting for my little prince to do them for you. Are you not ashamed of yourself? You probably want to kill me the same way you killed your mother.

"That's enough Lucy," Miles cut in as he took in the scene before him. "For crying out loud she is just five years old, don't say such things to her."

Ivy still held her cheeks while crying and shivering. She knew from experience that her father butting in would only make things worse for her.

He suddenly asked her, "why are you shivering?"

"I feel very sick dad," she replied.

"Oh shut up" Lucy quickly said. "She is only being lazy and using sickness as an excuse to escape her chores so you better stay out of it."

Not wanting to start a fight, Miles quietly left the store and abandoned Ivy to her fate. Ivy looked up at Lucy and said in-between sobs, "I'm sorry, I will begin my chores right away."

As Ivy mopped the floor, prince, her half-brother who was her age mate, and Lucy’s first child walked in with his dirty shoes and ruined her hard work. Ivy stared at him in anger, unable to utter the words that stuck to her throat because she knew doing so will get her a fresh round of spanking.

As she went about her chores, she imagined what life would be like if she had a mother. She had picked up from Lucy’s taunts that her mother died after giving birth to her and she was the cause.

As she was immersed in her thoughts, she felt someone tap her back and she turned to see Lucy handing her a pill to swallow for her fever. This was her life for as long as Ivy could remember. She wasn't taken to the hospital when she got sick like other kids and she wasn't allowed to go to school either.

The years slowly went by and Ivy continued to work as a maid for her siblings, Prince and Lana, and also her stepmother. Her father never interfered in the way she was treated.

When Ivy clocked ten, she decided to run away. She woke up before everyone as usual. Leaving her chores undone, she ran as far as she could, without a destination in mind. She soon became tired and hungry and sat under a tree, crying her eyes out.

"Isn't that Ivy?" A woman who happened to be Lucy’s friend asked as she spotted Ivy sitting under a tree. She quickly dialed Lucy’s number but she didn't pick up, she tried two more times and finally gave up trying. Meanwhile, Lucy and Miles searched around the house for Ivy but couldn't find her.

"I am going to give her the beatings of her life when she comes back," Lucy warned. "How can she be so irresponsible? Abandoning her chores and going to God knows where. Anyways, I'm waiting for her; let her come back."

"Calm down," Miles said, "don't stress yourself out for someone like that. Where would a useless thing like her go? She will definitely come back, then you can do whatever you want to her."

Two hours later, Lucy noticed the missed calls on her phone and returned a call. Her friend then told her, "I saw Ivy earlier today sitting under a tree, that's why I was calling you."

"Where precisely did you see her?" Asked Lucy.

"Along Hart street, close to the road."

"Okay, thank you very much," Lucy said before hanging up. She then hired some men to look for Ivy, giving them her picture and telling them where she was last seen.

As Ivy roamed the streets, she wondered what life had in store for her. She was so hungry yet no one offered her food.

As she walked past a trash can, she noticed a bunch of rotten bananas inside the can, she quickly took them out and began to peel them.

A lady who was passing by saw her and stopped her, "no, don't eat that, it's bad for your health."

"But I am very hungry," Ivy replied, "I haven't eaten anything since last night."

"What about your mummy?" the lady asked.

"She is dead," Ivy replied with tears in her eyes.

"Oh! you poor thing, come with me and I'll give you food to eat," the lady said kindly.

As Ivy happily ditched the rotten bananas and followed the woman, they were suddenly both surrounded by four men and Ivy noticed that one of the men was holding her picture.

She realized that her stepmother must have sent them so she clung to the woman and begged, "please don't let them take me."

The lady was confused and asked the men, "who are you and what do you want with the little girl?"

One of the men replied, "she ran away from home, her parents have been worried sick, especially her mum so she gave us her daughter's picture to look for her."

The lady looked at Ivy and frowned. "Why did you lie to me that your mother is dead when she is worriedly looking for you?"

Ivy said, "she is not my mum," but the lady shushed her.

"I hate children who tell lies, especially about their parents." She pushed Ivy to the ground and walked away.

Ivy frantically begged, "please help me, please take me with you but her cries fell on deaf ears as the lady walked away without looking back. One of the men bundled her and carried her away on his shoulder.

As she was being taken away, Ivy knew that her life was only going to get worse and she cried even more but no one else paid attention to her.

As soon as she was brought back, Lucy did not allow Ivy's feet to touch the ground before spanking her so hard on her buttocks.

Ivy yelped in pain as she fell to the ground from the man's shoulder. She cried and tried to pick herself up from the ground, only to receive another painful slap on the same spot.

She curled into a ball as she tried to cover her face from the whip in Lucy's hand. Lucy flogged her mercilessly without restraint, leaving marks all over her body.

She only stopped when Ivy couldn't find the voice to scream anymore and just laid on the floor as if dead.