Plot Twists Short Stories & Ruthless Biological Family Novels

My mother always says, "Children are like little tree branches. If you don't prune them, they'll grow crooked." I'm the tree that's been pruned until nothing but the trunk remains. Ever since I was five, I've been told not to laugh when I'm happy because it means I'm getting carried away with myself. I'm not allowed to cry when someone bullies me because, as my mother says, "There is no smoke without fire." In other words, if I'm being bullied, I must have done something to deserve it. When I score 98 on a test, my parents only ask, "How did you lose those two points? Did you get complacent and make mistakes?" When relatives praise me for being well-behaved, my parents interrupt them in front of everyone and say, "She's just putting on an act. She's an absolute lazy bum at home. Don't let her fool you." Over time, I learn to bury every emotion deep inside and turn myself into the perfect creation my parents want me to be.

My sister and I got into a car crash. My heart was ruptured, and I needed immediate surgery if I were to live. My mother, being the director of her hospital, sent all the doctors to my sister instead, all just to check on her. She barely got hurt. I pleaded and begged for my mother to save me, but impatience got the better of her. She roared, "This isn't the time to take any attention away from your sister! She almost had a bone fracture!" And I died. I remember where it was. It was a freezing operating theater.

With my first paycheck, I buy three air conditioners for my family. But when I come home from work, I find that my west-facing bedroom is still sweltering like an oven. And there's a huge winter melon sitting on my bed. Mom proudly pats its skin. "We moved the air conditioners into your brother's and sister's rooms. We had one left over, so we installed it in your sister's art studio. "The outdoor unit for your room would be right outside your sister's window, and the humming would keep her awake at night. Just sleep with a winter melon. It'll keep you cool enough." I open my mouth, but the dull ache in my chest leaves me unable to speak. She has forgotten that I was hospitalized for heatstroke just last month. The doctor warned me to stay out of the heat after I was discharged. I turn toward the studio at the end of the hallway. Cool air spills through the crack beneath the door. Dad is adjusting the lighting over my sister's easel. My brother is holding a freshly cut slice of chilled watermelon to her lips. And my boyfriend of three years is carefully adjusting the airflow for her with the remote. "Angle the vents upward. Don't let her catch a cold." I wipe the sweat from my forehead and stare at the ridiculous winter melon on my bed. Suddenly, I don't want to fight for anything anymore. I take out my phone and reply to my supervisor. "You said I could become a permanent employee early if I transferred to the new branch in Veymont. I agree." After making it through twenty-two summers, all I want is to give myself a spring that never ends.

When I was six, I eagerly asked Mom when she was going to give me a little sister. Her heart softened, and she said yes. But on the day she gave birth, she suffered an amniotic fluid embolism and died on the operating table, along with my unborn sister. From then on, Dad hated me with everything he had. He screamed at me hysterically, "If you hadn't kept begging for a sister, your mom wouldn't be dead! Why couldn't it have been you instead?" I knelt on the floor, sobbing out an apology. "I'm sorry, Dad! I was wrong! I'll never want a little sister again!" Dad stormed out and slammed the door behind him. He never came back. After three days without food, I called and begged him to bring me something to eat. He sounded completely fed up. "Isn't there flour in the kitchen? Eat some flour. You'll live." I couldn't find any flour, only a small bottle of powder. So I ate that. Soon, a twisting pain tore through my stomach. I collapsed, and everything went dark. Trembling, I made one last call to Dad. The moment he picked up, I smiled through my tears. "Dad, I think I can go be with Mom now..."

The day I get into Harton University, one of the top colleges in the country, everyone in town is proud of me. "Lindsay, you wouldn't be where you are today without your mom!" "Your dad is gone, and your mom had to raise you all by herself. It couldn't have been easy!" "We've all seen how much she's done for you over the years. Good deeds really do get rewarded." Mom smiles and tells me to get a bottle of good liquor from the cellar for everyone. I go down there, but instead of finding the liquor, I uncover a merit ledger hidden amongst the bottles. It is written in Mom's neat handwriting. "May 17. I deliberately poisoned our neighbor, Mr. Lowe, and killed him to gain blessings for my daughter's studies and help her become the top student in the country."

On my fourth birthday, Dad establishes a system to punish me by making me solve math problems. For every word I spell incorrectly, I'll be punished with 30 math problems. For every minute I am late getting out of bed, I'll be punished with 40 math problems. For every syllable I pronounce incorrectly while reading out loud, I'll be punished with 50 math problems. "You have to do your math problems well and make sure you outperform that woman's child! You must make the Rowland family proud of you!" Dad works incredibly hard to raise me all on his own, so in return, I must be a good, obedient boy, even when I'm so exhausted by the end of the day that I can no longer hold a pencil. Then comes our first class trip. While the other children share snacks and play games, I sit kneeling on the ground, my knees scraped raw and bleeding as I desperately grind away at math problems instead. "Ms. Carpenter, I've assigned Victor 200 math problems today. Could you please take a photo and send it to me? Make sure the little rascal doesn't slack off!" Dad tells my teacher, Ms. Beth Carpenter. The other children jeer at me and pelt me with small stones. "No wonder he doesn't have a mother! Who would ever like a kid who only knows how to do math problems?" I hang my head low, wondering if I'd still have to do all these math problems if I were that woman's child instead.

After my parents moved into their new house, they kept refusing to let me see it ahead of time. It wasn't until Labor Day that my mother, Gloria Grant, finally sent me the address, being all mysterious about it. Mom: [Allie, come home, quick! This year, the five of us are spending our first Labor Day together in the new house.] I hurried over with a box of pumpkin tarts in hand. In the entryway, four pairs of custom-made slippers sat in a neat row. There was gray for my father, Martin Grant, and off-white for Mom. My older brother, Fred Grant, and my younger sister, Lily Grant, each had a pair too. I looked down and searched for a long time before Mom finally dug a pair of disposable hotel slippers out from the bottom of the shoe cabinet. "I forgot to have a pair made for you. You hardly ever come home anyway, so it doesn't matter what you wear." I said nothing, not until Lily excitedly dragged me off to tour the rooms. She had a walk-in closet, and Fred had a gaming room. Even the space by the balcony had been partitioned off into a tea room just for Dad. I came to the last door. Inside was a folding bed. Mom smiled. "This is the guest room. You'll stay here whenever you come back." I stood there, stunned, for a long time. So when they moved, they hadn't simply forgotten to ask which room I wanted. From the very beginning, it had never occurred to them that this home needed a room for me. At dinner that night, Dad raised his glass. "From now on, our family finally has a real home." I smiled and clinked glasses with everyone too. But under the table, I quietly withdrew from the job that would have kept me in the city and accepted a position twelve hundred miles away. They had already moved into their new home. It was time I went to find mine.

My daughter has been kidnapped, and the kidnapper is asking for five million dollars as ransom. I can just about scrounge the money together, but the kidnapper makes it clear that he wants a life in exchange for my daughter's. He'll take the money and kill the person who brings it to him. I smoke throughout the night, my eyes bloodshot as I try to think of something. Then, I fix my gaze on my mother, who is now senile and insane.

While on a car trip, our car is struck by falling rocks and breaks down on a remote mountain road. My sister, Renee Olsen, is terrified. We wait three hours before a passing vehicle finally comes. The driver rolls down the window. "I can only fit three people in my car. How many of you are there?" My mom, Penny Ziegler, lets out a relieved sigh and smiles. "Great, there are three of us." My dad, Leonard Olsen, immediately shifts slightly to the side, completely blocking me from view as I cower in the back seat. They get into the car with Renee and leave. Ten minutes later, Mom sends me a message. "Renee is in shock. We're bringing her to the hospital for a check-up first. You stay right there with the car and wait for us to pick you up." I glance at my leg that is bleeding from cuts caused by shattered glass and reply, "Okay." I wait from day into night until my phone battery dies, yet my parents never return. They never pick up my calls or reply to my messages. A team conducting geological surveys nearby discovers me, barely conscious. They arrange for a tow truck and rush me to the hospital, as I'm burning up with a fever. The doctor frowns when he sees my leg. "Why did you wait until now to come in? Young lady, your wound is infected. You need surgery to debride it. Where is your family? Get them here quickly to sign it." I slowly unclench my stiff fingers and take the surgical consent form. Calmly, I pick up the pen and sign my name. "I can sign it myself. They've already forgotten about me."

Dad's temper explodes when I tell him that one plus one equals two. Frank Huxley ruthlessly kicks me in the chest and roars, "Who gave you permission to learn addition? Why won't you just listen to me?" He then grabs me by the leg and drags me to the door, shoving me out of the house. "You just love learning so much, don't you? Go then! But don't ever call me your father ever again!" I wail loudly as I bang on the door with all my might. Suddenly, I can hear Dad's thoughts through the door. "He's so annoying. Why is this villain so disobedient? He needs to be an idiot so I can complete my mission. I'll give him the cold shoulder for a couple of days and deprive him of a few meals. Let's see whether he still has the guts to learn behind my back then!" I whip my head up in confusion. I don't know what a "villain" is, but I can't shake the feeling that Dad doesn't actually love me.

After my sister finished cutting the cake on her 18th birthday, she pouted and suggested we play hide-and-seek. Just before the blindfold went on, I saw her exchange a look with our parents. I did not think much of it. Not until I finished counting to one hundred, pulled off the blindfold, and found the entire villa empty. I called my parents again and again. Every call was cut off, so I opened social media. One minute earlier, my sister had posted a photo. In the photo, she and our parents were wearing sunglasses, lounging on beach chairs in Chesroy Isles. The caption read, 'Escaping the heat abroad with family. How nice!' I did not even need to check to know what my mother had commented. 'Don't tease her like that next time. She's already pitiful enough being ugly.' Except there would always be a next time. And every time would be worse than the last. I stared at the ocean in the photo. Then, all at once, I felt there was no need to feel wronged anymore. I turned off my phone and picked up my suitcase. There were three hours left before my flight overseas—before I cut ties with them for good. From now on, the three of them could enjoy themselves without me.