TITLE: I'm Set Free
AUTHOR: Fionnabair
FANDOM: Life on Mars
SUMMARY: I could a tale unfold whose lightest word, Would harrow up thy soul; freeze thy young blood
RATING: Red Cortina – Incest, non-con, character death
WORD COUNT: 916
EMAIL: fiandyfic@livejournal.com
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Ruth/Sam. A sequel to Beginning to See the Light. Beta'd by![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
m31andy
DISCLAIMER: Life on Mars is copyright Kudos and the BBC. All Rights Reserved. No copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made.
I'm Set Free
Novembers are horrible, thinks Sammy. Sitting in the freezing front room at Auntie Heather's, his home now, he wonders what the big secret is as he watches the rain pour down outside.
He doesn't see Mum anymore, she's "gone away". Just like Dad did, but there's an even bigger secret there. He hears Auntie Heather, talking anxiously in a hushed voice to her friends and looking up guiltily when he comes into the room.
He's not stupid, he wants to yell, he just wants to know where Mum is.
He lost his Dad, and despite Mum's promises, he knows he won't see his Dad again.
And he won't see Uncle Sam again either.
He liked Uncle Sam. He was strange, but Mum had already told him that, and he knew that Uncle Sam been very sick and that grown-ups could be strange when they'd been sick. But he'd had a sad smile and he'd play, and he spent lots of time with Sammy, and sometimes, he and Mum even took him on treats. When Sammy had been devastated at what happened to his team, relegation and humiliation, Uncle Sam had sat down and promised him that the Reds would be winning again before he knew it. Uncle Sam could see the future, he sometimes thought, because he was so certain.
Uncle Sam's hands shook sometimes and he wasn't too good at building things, but he tried and he let Sammy help him and Sammy felt really important when he was allowed to do that. Uncle Sam sat quietly downstairs during the day and he slept in Mum's bedroom at night and he sometimes had nightmares, which Sammy knew about because he could hear him sometimes. And once, Sammy had sneaked out of bed and peeked in through Mum's bedroom door, and seen Uncle Sam, curled up on the floor at the foot of the bed, crying like he was a baby.
Uncle Sam never cried in front of Sammy.
About two days before Uncle Sam left, he and Sammy and Mum had all been out in the park and Uncle Sam had even played football with him for a bit. There had been a nasty moment that had scared Sammy when a big man with a moustache was walking by and saw Uncle Sam and said something to him that had sounded threatening. Uncle Sam hadn't reacted and the man had stood there for a moment, sneering, and then walked off.
Uncle Sam had stopped playing football. Instead he'd taken Sammy for a long walk, all around Old Trafford, and told him all about the Reds. He'd spoken more than Sammy had ever heard him say before and Mum had smiled and joked and said men were all the same about football and she didn't understand it a bit and wasn't it time to go home and get tea?
And Uncle Sam had nodded and told Sammy that he should listen to his mum. And the three of them had gone home and Uncle Sam had been silent again.
The next day, Sammy had been at school and pulled out his new exercise book and discovered that a page had been torn out. And his new pencil was missing from his pencil case. Sammy wanted to be a policeman when he grew up, and instead of telling Mum, he decided to investigate, just like a proper detective. But he had been distracted when he got home, and forgot that night.
Mum went out early on Tuesday mornings and Sammy was a big boy now, so he walked to school on his own on those days, after saying goodbye to Uncle Sam, who was always in his corner of the living room. But this time, Uncle Sam got up and said he'd walk to school with Sammy, if Sammy would let him. Sammy liked walking on his own because it showed he was a big boy but Uncle Sam had never walked him to school before so Sammy said yes. They even stopped at the sweetshop on the way and Sammy promised Uncle Sam that he wouldn't eat the penny sweets until break time. Uncle Sam smiled.
"You always keep your promises, don't you, Sammy?"
Sammy nodded. Uncle Sam knelt down in front of him, so that they were eye to eye.
"So do I," he confided. "But sometimes, Sammy, when you get older, you'll learn that there are some promises you have to break. It doesn't make you a bad man, but it's never easy."
Sammy looked at him, his mouth open in surprise, but then the bell rang and he had to run into school. He turned at the door, and Uncle Sam was still standing at the gate, watching him.
When Sammy and Mum got home from school that afternoon, the house was empty. Normally Uncle Sam would be in the kitchen, having a cup of tea, but the only thing in there was a scrap of dirty ribbon on the table and half a page of lined paper with one word written on it in pencil: "Goodbye."
Mum had gone pale when she saw the ribbon, and Sammy thought she was going to cry when she read the note, but she didn't.
She didn't cry until two days later when the police came, the nasty man from the park holding a scrap of paper from an exercise book and saying something about the canal and a "suicide note", and opened the cellar door.
The Alternate Ending: I'll Be Your Mirror
AUTHOR: Fionnabair
FANDOM: Life on Mars
SUMMARY: I could a tale unfold whose lightest word, Would harrow up thy soul; freeze thy young blood
RATING: Red Cortina – Incest, non-con, character death
WORD COUNT: 916
EMAIL: fiandyfic@livejournal.com
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Ruth/Sam. A sequel to Beginning to See the Light. Beta'd by
m31andyDISCLAIMER: Life on Mars is copyright Kudos and the BBC. All Rights Reserved. No copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made.
I'm Set Free
Novembers are horrible, thinks Sammy. Sitting in the freezing front room at Auntie Heather's, his home now, he wonders what the big secret is as he watches the rain pour down outside.
He doesn't see Mum anymore, she's "gone away". Just like Dad did, but there's an even bigger secret there. He hears Auntie Heather, talking anxiously in a hushed voice to her friends and looking up guiltily when he comes into the room.
He's not stupid, he wants to yell, he just wants to know where Mum is.
He lost his Dad, and despite Mum's promises, he knows he won't see his Dad again.
And he won't see Uncle Sam again either.
He liked Uncle Sam. He was strange, but Mum had already told him that, and he knew that Uncle Sam been very sick and that grown-ups could be strange when they'd been sick. But he'd had a sad smile and he'd play, and he spent lots of time with Sammy, and sometimes, he and Mum even took him on treats. When Sammy had been devastated at what happened to his team, relegation and humiliation, Uncle Sam had sat down and promised him that the Reds would be winning again before he knew it. Uncle Sam could see the future, he sometimes thought, because he was so certain.
Uncle Sam's hands shook sometimes and he wasn't too good at building things, but he tried and he let Sammy help him and Sammy felt really important when he was allowed to do that. Uncle Sam sat quietly downstairs during the day and he slept in Mum's bedroom at night and he sometimes had nightmares, which Sammy knew about because he could hear him sometimes. And once, Sammy had sneaked out of bed and peeked in through Mum's bedroom door, and seen Uncle Sam, curled up on the floor at the foot of the bed, crying like he was a baby.
Uncle Sam never cried in front of Sammy.
About two days before Uncle Sam left, he and Sammy and Mum had all been out in the park and Uncle Sam had even played football with him for a bit. There had been a nasty moment that had scared Sammy when a big man with a moustache was walking by and saw Uncle Sam and said something to him that had sounded threatening. Uncle Sam hadn't reacted and the man had stood there for a moment, sneering, and then walked off.
Uncle Sam had stopped playing football. Instead he'd taken Sammy for a long walk, all around Old Trafford, and told him all about the Reds. He'd spoken more than Sammy had ever heard him say before and Mum had smiled and joked and said men were all the same about football and she didn't understand it a bit and wasn't it time to go home and get tea?
And Uncle Sam had nodded and told Sammy that he should listen to his mum. And the three of them had gone home and Uncle Sam had been silent again.
The next day, Sammy had been at school and pulled out his new exercise book and discovered that a page had been torn out. And his new pencil was missing from his pencil case. Sammy wanted to be a policeman when he grew up, and instead of telling Mum, he decided to investigate, just like a proper detective. But he had been distracted when he got home, and forgot that night.
Mum went out early on Tuesday mornings and Sammy was a big boy now, so he walked to school on his own on those days, after saying goodbye to Uncle Sam, who was always in his corner of the living room. But this time, Uncle Sam got up and said he'd walk to school with Sammy, if Sammy would let him. Sammy liked walking on his own because it showed he was a big boy but Uncle Sam had never walked him to school before so Sammy said yes. They even stopped at the sweetshop on the way and Sammy promised Uncle Sam that he wouldn't eat the penny sweets until break time. Uncle Sam smiled.
"You always keep your promises, don't you, Sammy?"
Sammy nodded. Uncle Sam knelt down in front of him, so that they were eye to eye.
"So do I," he confided. "But sometimes, Sammy, when you get older, you'll learn that there are some promises you have to break. It doesn't make you a bad man, but it's never easy."
Sammy looked at him, his mouth open in surprise, but then the bell rang and he had to run into school. He turned at the door, and Uncle Sam was still standing at the gate, watching him.
When Sammy and Mum got home from school that afternoon, the house was empty. Normally Uncle Sam would be in the kitchen, having a cup of tea, but the only thing in there was a scrap of dirty ribbon on the table and half a page of lined paper with one word written on it in pencil: "Goodbye."
Mum had gone pale when she saw the ribbon, and Sammy thought she was going to cry when she read the note, but she didn't.
She didn't cry until two days later when the police came, the nasty man from the park holding a scrap of paper from an exercise book and saying something about the canal and a "suicide note", and opened the cellar door.
The Alternate Ending: I'll Be Your Mirror
33 comments | Leave a comment