Like magic the red lines appeared and spread across her pale skin. She smiled to her self and watched until more and more Red rose to the surface and burst. It was beautiful, much more so than what most people thought of as loveliness.

Time passed. Not much, but enough to be noticed by the girl who had no watch. She could feel the minutes slipping by and knew that she would soon be missed. Reluctantly she pulled a clean white cloth from her bag and pressed it to her arm. Then, pulling down her sweatshirt sleeve, she picked her way through the forest back to her home.

Flashback

"Why can't you do anything right! Is this really that hard that I have to explain it to you again and again? Should I use small words?

"What's wrong with you? There must be something…"

She suppressed her anguish. Her mother was someone she never could please. But that didn't matter. She wouldn't let it matter. Not now; not in front of everyone. She would let the pain come later, when she was alone, silent. For now, she piled up the cruel words of the one person she couldn't please and held on to them. She would unleash her frustration later. Later….

End Flashback

Teagan took a shuddering breath and took last lingering look at her new Lines before once again rolling down her sleeve and entering her house. Immediately she wished she hadn't. Her home was chaos. Evidence of unfinished chores and tasks waiting to be assigned greeted her along with a dog waiting to be walked.

"If you were going out, why didn't you take Gecko with you?" her mother asked accusingly.

Teagan merely shrugged and muttered something about how she wouldn't have been able to take the pit bull where she had went. Her mother gave her a disapproving glance (number 16,345; this week) and headed back to her 'lair'.

Already Tea wanted to return to her sanctuary. She resisted though. She bottled up her discomfort and imagined a different part of her body. Maybe on the side of her left calf? Yes, that would be nice. Hold off for another day, another hour at least, and then you can be free.