Post by MILO JAMES HANSEN on Sept 6, 2013 15:31:47 GMT -8
| [atrb=style,width: 420px; background-color: efefef; background-image: url(http://24.media.tumblr.com/0478144b9f16c95a37367d1aca56b45c/tumblr_mkfax8tDxp1s97ldco1_500.png); padding: 5px, bTable] MILO J. HANSEN 16 | STRAIGHT | BOOK STORE ASSISTANT | HIGH SCHOOL KID | ASA BUTTERFIELD AGE THREE Your name is Milo, you're three years old, and right now, you're very happy. If you knew what was to come in the next few years, you'd savor this moment, but you're too young to understand. All you know is that the hero of your world, your big brother Alex, is reading you a story while you two hide in your blanket fort from your yucky cousin Becky and her dumb dolls. Hiding from Becky isn't very nice, especially since you heard Mom and Dad arguing about how her 'useless parents' abandoned her last night, but you think she's gross and girly. Alex, as usual, does whatever you want. Your brother loves you more than anyone, and you love him more than anyone. You can't imagine ever not having him to watch out for you. AGE SIX Your name is Milo, you're six years old, and right now, you're very angry. In the three years since your Uncle Jack and Aunt Paige ran off to be rock stars, leaving your cousin Becky with you, she and your brother have become close. They're the same age, and you're four years younger. Naturally, you get left out often. Today, the three of you were playing outside, near the canals your mother told your brother that you weren't ever allowed to swim in. Alex has told you to remain on the sidewalk, watching them, as they swim, and it's turned your mood from petulant to furious. You're often prone to tantrums, a result of being spoiled by your brother, and they occasionally get violent. You didn't realize this would be such a tantrum until you'd already thrown the rock at Becky, resentment swelling. It disappears as her head is hit, and she falls into the water. You notice the water turning red, and scream, getting into the canal to see if she's okay. Alex turns to see what has happened, and knows instantly what you've done. He helps you pull her to the sidewalk, but she's already drowned by then. Protecting you as always, he tells you to run home and tell your parents that Becky got hurt, but nothing else. Three weeks later, your cousin has been buried, and Alex is being sent to a juvenile detention center, with a charge of manslaughter for the accidental murder of your cousin. You wake every night screaming. AGE NINE Your name is Milo, you're nine years old, and right now, you're very confused. One of the neighbor boys agreed to play with you, and so you are out in your front yard. He had a baseball and a bat, toys your parents would never buy you no matter how much you asked. You jumped at the chance to play, remembering how much fun you'd had with Alex before the accident. That's not all you remember. You remember a canal, a rock, watching your brother throw it... Or was it you? You can't remember, but you're suddenly being roughly grabbed to be taken back inside, the neighbor boy on the ground crying and holding his head, baseball at his feet. Your father is cursing and threatening to beat you so hard you won't leave the house for a week. Three days later, you're taken to the hospital with a broken elbow that went unnoticed until your mother finally sobered up. It's called an accident, and you go home in a cast with pins in your elbow. You try not to sleep, but when you do, the nightmares are even worse. AGE TWELVE Your name is Milo, you're twelve years old, and right now, you're very scared. While doing dishes, you'd dropped and broken a glass, and you knew this meant a punishment. It meant being beaten yet again by your father, maybe even another trip to the hospital. You're terrified, and that's why you're hiding under your bed, praying he's too drunk to find you. You can hear him, but that only makes it worse, because it confirms that he's in a rage and trying to find you. When the door to his and your mother's bedroom slams shut, you feel some relief. Then the yelling starts again, this time coming from your mother as well. They're arguing, and you can't tell exactly what it's about, but you know it involves you and your brother. It keeps getting louder, until there is a bang, and your mother stops. Your father keeps yelling for a few minutes, before there is another bang, then he stops too. You stay under your bed, until the silence drives you out. Tip-toed steps make the way to their room, and you cautiously open the door. A scream loud enough to shake the windows is heard through the house, and you run out into the yard, where you proceed to vomit until you're trembling too much to even support yourself on your hands and knees. It's not even ten minutes after that when police arrive, and after you give your statement to a nice officer, you begin processing for the foster care system. By the next morning, you're off to live with a new family, but the nightmares and terrors still come. AGE FIFTEEN Your name is Milo, you're fifteen years old, and right now, you're very relaxed. After he turned eighteen, Alex was released from the juvenile detention center and his record was sealed. Good behavior and lots of studying had left him ready to take a place in normal society again, and he immediately started fighting for custody of you. It took a few months, but he did it, and then before you even understood what was happening, the two of you were moving across the country. Going from Arizona to Maine had been a bit of a shock to your system, but in the year since you'd moved to Brunswick, you had adjusted. Having Alex back certainly helped, and the therapist you went to see every Thursday afternoon agrees. You're in a much healthier mental state than you were before, and while it isn't saying a lot, any improvement is good at this point. You're attending a public school, making friends (over the internet, but they live in the general area, so you insist it counts), and even finding hobbies. Of course, you still spend most of your time inside, but the world outside of the apartment you live in with your brother still scares you. Part of you worries that it always will. AGE SIXTEEN Your name is Milo, you're sixteen years old, and right now, you're very distressed. Getting a job had been your idea, in hopes of giving your brother some room to relax in regards to finances. You knew that Alex was struggling, at times, to make ends meet, mostly because he was paying the bills for your therapy. So, you found a job at a bookstore, shelving books and cleaning up. It was supposed to be an easy job, one where you'd have minimal interaction with other people. Yet it'd be a good step towards recovery, your therapist said, not to mention that it'd make things a little easier on your brother if he wasn't having to give you money to buy lunch or new clothes. You had expected to be left alone when working, but today, after three weeks of working at the bookstore, a customer is talking to you. The girl looks familiar, and she says you two go to school together, but it doesn't put you at ease. She's asking you about where to find a series of books, and if you like living here, and how come she never sees you anywhere but here and at school. You stammer out an answer about where to find the books she's looking for, before turning and running to the employee bathroom, where you hide in a stall to calm down before you dissolve into the panic attack you felt coming on. You spend about ten minutes in there, and when you come out, the girl is gone. Any relief you feel is swept away by guilt when your manager makes a comment about being more friendly with customers. Part of you wonders if you'll see the girl again, and you're not sure if you want to. AN AVERAGE WEEK FOR MILO: Sunday:
Monday through Thursday:
Friday:
Saturday:
BEHIND THE MASK ALIAS | AGE | TIME ZONE | FOUND US? | OTHER CHARACTERS Some little notes I didn't know how to include in the main section of the app: When he notes that the neighbor boy is on the ground, holding his head and crying with the baseball at his feet, it's meant to imply that he reenacted the death of his cousin with the baseball. In cases of PTSD found in children, they often reenact the traumatic event in play, hence the incident with injuring the neighbor boy. After that incident, he was forbidden from playing with other children, and became increasingly withdrawn. At this point, interacting with his peers causes panic attacks if it's done face to face. He is working on moving past this, but he's not making as much progress as anyone would like. While some cases of PTSD involve violent behaviors and irritability, Milo has reacted instead by becoming very docile and anxious. It's very rare that he gets angry, as he usually instead backs down and hides if a confrontation seems imminent. His brother compares him to a frightened kitten or a kicked puppy, but he's really more like an overly-cautious turtle. |