It was with light footsteps that the odd purple Mako tiptoed through the light shrubbery of the coastline, foliage growing thicker as she exited the beach and made her way onto the mainland. Her pelt was alive with a swirl of starlike markings, blended together with several other colors in an elegant swirl. However beautiful her pelt may have been, it wasn't any help at the moment. The purple mako stuck out like a sore thumb, the colors that made her so noticeable in the daytime caused her to be easily spotted in the green of the forest. Of course, beggars can't be choosers, and the purple Mako was fine with a little bit of inconvenience from the only decent-looking part of her.
The thick branches of the trees overhead laughed in the wind, their brittle branches reopening old wounds. It didn't appear to bug her, the caution on her face was evident and unchanged. One foul move could alert an entire pack of Makos, and with a recognizable face as her own, she needed anything but that.
Mariana couldn't let anyone realize what she was doing.
The landscape had descended into a gradual slope, the thick grass tickling her paws as she attempted to survey her surroundings before placing her feet down. This was the worst part of the journey that she had traveled so many times. Embedded in the hillside where you couldn't see them were rocks, sprinkled with a tiny bit of moss to make them blend in just right with the rich green that shrouded everything else. Bad footing would mean accidentally kicking a shower of rocks down the hill, and she still was still close enough to the shore that other Makos would come running to see what it was they had heard. Criss-crossed tree branches let just enough light between them for her to see what she was doing, barely anything more. Five steps, four steps, three steps, two steps… one step… there! The slope laid behind her, only an easy walk down an old path rarely traveled was ahead. In several more pawsteps she had ducked under the overgrowth between two ivy-covered trees and made her way onto the path. The dirt below her feet had began to show evidence of growth that she trampled down once more. She let her tail rise in a small act of pride, letting the wind ruffle her messy fur and mane in a somewhat decent-looking position.
That's when she saw it.
Perfectly curved branches formed an alcove perfect for a pup above her head, the trunk still covered in delicate scratches marking day after day after day. It was the tree she had used as a temporary shelter when she wasn't allowed to come home. There was no way Mariana could fit up there now, but still, Mariana longed to scramble up into the familiar embrace of the tree's worn-down wood. Summer nights long ago spent staring through the woods to her parent's home flickered into her mind, and for a moment, her gaze faltered. The emotions hidden behind a mask of adulthood were allowed to show for just a second, and for that mere moment she once more saw the world through a child's eyes. The anger, the confusion, the sadness, all of it came flooding back until Mariana simply shoved it out of her thoughts and put the mask back on. She was close enough that she couldn't let any old memories screw up her one and only goal.
And that goal was just on the other side of this fence.
In her daze, she had absentmindedly ended up walking along the rest of the path, tripping, and falling face first against the once-elegant tall black fence that seemed to need a bit of fixing. Years of harsh weather brought in by the nearby ocean had battered it, and a gap between metal bars was the perfect place for a Mako like Mariana to squeeze through unnoticed. As soon as her paws touched the manicured lawn that surrounded the mansion, it was as if she was in a different world. Perfection appeared to seep from every square inch of the area, but Mariana knew better. Underneath all that fake beauty lied a twisted, horrible past. The past that a kind of person who refused to acknowledge their own child's existence would have.
There was no time for those sort of thoughts, though. With a quick and careful stride, Mariana darted over to the doorstep and stopped. Her paws quickly retrieved the wrinkled piece of paper that she had been holding with her tail and opened it. Worried eyes scanned over every last line.
"I'm sorry that I wasn't good enough for you.
I'm sorry I could never impress you enough.
I'm sorry I never got you where you wanted.
I'm sorry.
I just wish you could've been proud of me.
I wish you were proud of me.
But wishing won't get me anywhere, and with this note, I do what you did to me. From this moment forward I will refuse your existence. I am my own person, and I won't let myself be trapped in your petty little birdcage of "not good enough".
Goodbye."
And with that, the purple Mako folded up the piece of paper once more, dropped it on the doorstep, and ran off into the woods the way she had come.
Tomorrow was still a new day, and she had finally moved on.
The thick branches of the trees overhead laughed in the wind, their brittle branches reopening old wounds. It didn't appear to bug her, the caution on her face was evident and unchanged. One foul move could alert an entire pack of Makos, and with a recognizable face as her own, she needed anything but that.
Mariana couldn't let anyone realize what she was doing.
The landscape had descended into a gradual slope, the thick grass tickling her paws as she attempted to survey her surroundings before placing her feet down. This was the worst part of the journey that she had traveled so many times. Embedded in the hillside where you couldn't see them were rocks, sprinkled with a tiny bit of moss to make them blend in just right with the rich green that shrouded everything else. Bad footing would mean accidentally kicking a shower of rocks down the hill, and she still was still close enough to the shore that other Makos would come running to see what it was they had heard. Criss-crossed tree branches let just enough light between them for her to see what she was doing, barely anything more. Five steps, four steps, three steps, two steps… one step… there! The slope laid behind her, only an easy walk down an old path rarely traveled was ahead. In several more pawsteps she had ducked under the overgrowth between two ivy-covered trees and made her way onto the path. The dirt below her feet had began to show evidence of growth that she trampled down once more. She let her tail rise in a small act of pride, letting the wind ruffle her messy fur and mane in a somewhat decent-looking position.
That's when she saw it.
Perfectly curved branches formed an alcove perfect for a pup above her head, the trunk still covered in delicate scratches marking day after day after day. It was the tree she had used as a temporary shelter when she wasn't allowed to come home. There was no way Mariana could fit up there now, but still, Mariana longed to scramble up into the familiar embrace of the tree's worn-down wood. Summer nights long ago spent staring through the woods to her parent's home flickered into her mind, and for a moment, her gaze faltered. The emotions hidden behind a mask of adulthood were allowed to show for just a second, and for that mere moment she once more saw the world through a child's eyes. The anger, the confusion, the sadness, all of it came flooding back until Mariana simply shoved it out of her thoughts and put the mask back on. She was close enough that she couldn't let any old memories screw up her one and only goal.
And that goal was just on the other side of this fence.
In her daze, she had absentmindedly ended up walking along the rest of the path, tripping, and falling face first against the once-elegant tall black fence that seemed to need a bit of fixing. Years of harsh weather brought in by the nearby ocean had battered it, and a gap between metal bars was the perfect place for a Mako like Mariana to squeeze through unnoticed. As soon as her paws touched the manicured lawn that surrounded the mansion, it was as if she was in a different world. Perfection appeared to seep from every square inch of the area, but Mariana knew better. Underneath all that fake beauty lied a twisted, horrible past. The past that a kind of person who refused to acknowledge their own child's existence would have.
There was no time for those sort of thoughts, though. With a quick and careful stride, Mariana darted over to the doorstep and stopped. Her paws quickly retrieved the wrinkled piece of paper that she had been holding with her tail and opened it. Worried eyes scanned over every last line.
"I'm sorry that I wasn't good enough for you.
I'm sorry I could never impress you enough.
I'm sorry I never got you where you wanted.
I'm sorry.
I just wish you could've been proud of me.
I wish you were proud of me.
But wishing won't get me anywhere, and with this note, I do what you did to me. From this moment forward I will refuse your existence. I am my own person, and I won't let myself be trapped in your petty little birdcage of "not good enough".
Goodbye."
And with that, the purple Mako folded up the piece of paper once more, dropped it on the doorstep, and ran off into the woods the way she had come.
Tomorrow was still a new day, and she had finally moved on.