Ella steps into the office, glancing around. Her mother places her hand on Ella’s lower back, guiding her the rest of the way.

“Hello. Who are you here for?” The receptionist is thin, and resembles a praying mantis. Ella wanders over to the waiting area, picking up a magazine. The cover screams out, “Problems with your child? 10 Easy Steps to Morph the Rotten Child into a Perfect Angel”. Ella sets the magazine face down on the table, confused on why she’s in this dark, dank office in the first place.

Ella was told they were going out for ice cream, but she knows when her parents have lied to her. Now, being in this office, Ella believes there is something definitely wrong. She sits down on one of the ugly leather chairs, back as rigid as a pole. Staring straight ahead, Ella glances at her parents out of the corner of her eyes once, then twice. The receptionist guides Ella’s parents through the paperwork.

A lady walks out in a black suit, hair pulled into a french twist, which rests on the nape of her neck. Leaning against the receptionist’s desk, she taps her french tips impatiently. Eyeing Ella warily, the lady saunters over. The lady then thrusts her hand into Ella’s face, puts on an award winning smile, and says, “Hello. You must be Ella. I’m Dr. Schwarts. I’ll be your counselor from now on.” Ella jerks her head back just in time before a french tip gets lodged in her eye.
“Hi.” Ella spits. Ella is very aware that she doesn’t need to be here. She grimaces and shakes Dr. Schwarts’ hand gently, almost as if Dr. Schwarts is a leper. Dr. Schwarts backs up and returns to her position at the desk.
“Ok. I believe Dr. Schwarts is ready for you.” The receptionist gestures to the doctor at her right, lazily.
“C’mon back.” Dr. Schwarts says almost as if the thought wasn’t already apparent. Ella’s parents file down the hallway, then through the door at the very end.
“Just breathe hun. Everything will be ok.” The praying mantis seems to feed off of Ella with her eyes. Ella, averting her eyes from the receptionist, picks up a different magazine while she waits. This one reads “Troubled Teens and your Step-To-Step Guide on how to Communicate with them”. Ella flips through a few pages, then decides she’s done trying to be nonchalant.
“Excuse me? Miss? Can you tell me why I’m here?” Ella pleads with her eyes, standing in front of the desk.
“You should know. Or is this little act a lie too?” The receptionist laughs a tinkly little laugh. It seemed to belong to a fairy.
“Okay then...” Ella trails off. Ella goes to sit back down in her chair, but decides she would rather pace.
“Will you sit down? God. Maybe you wouldn’t be so fidgety if you weren’t a liar.” The receptionist knows where to hit Ella now. Ella stomps back over to the desk. She sticks her finger in the lady’s face, and just as Ella is about to go off on the receptionist, a door opens. Ella drops her hand slowly and walks back to her chair, before her parents and Dr. Schwarts realize she’s been trying to get information.
“Alright Ella. Come on back.” Dr. Schwarts has a worried look on her face. Ella gets up, and follows her into the back. As Ella walks behind Dr. Schwarts, she imagines a torture chamber behind that door. Axes, crossbows, saws, maces, and sickles hang suspended from the ceiling. The room is dark, and there’s a chair in the center of the room. It resembles a dentist’s chair, with straps for holding your wrists and feet down. Then the door really opens, and Ella’s “counselor room” looks much different than the real one. There’s a small bookshelf in the right corner and blue chairs in the left corner. They face the corner diagonal from them. Her desk is closest to the door, taking up a space against the wall to the left. All Dr. Schwarts has to do is turn her head to the right to see who’s entering.
“Go ahead and have a seat in one of those blue chairs Ella.” Dr. Schwarts walks to her desk, picks up a clipboard, and sits in a chair in front of Ella. “Now, this isn’t an interrogation. And you can be very truthful in this room. This room is meant to be calm and honest. You can tell me anything in here Ella. Don’t be afraid.” Dr. Schwarts grabs Ella’s hand, wrapping her long fingers around the tiny hand.
“Why am I in here? I’m not crazy. I don’t have problems. If anyone has problems, it’s my parents. I just don’t understand why I’m in here.” Ella swallows a sob. She never thought she would have to resort to pleading with someone to tell her what’s wrong with herself.
“Well Ella. I’ve come to an understanding that you have a lying problem.” Dr. Schwarts is expecting an answer to a comment.
“I don’t have a lying problem!” Ella shouts.
“But don’t you? Your parents are very concerned with the latest lie you’ve told. So Ella, who is this mystery abductor? Why did you make this up?” Dr. Schwarts starts bombarding Ella with questions.
“Abductor? Wait, wait, wait. You think I was abducted?” Ella’s jaw slightly drops.
“Ella, listen to me. You don’t have to pretend in here. You’re safe.” Dr. Schwarts coaxes Ella with a soothing voice.
“Safe? From what? I wasn’t ever abducted. Where did you get this off the wall idea that I was abducted?” Ella’s face starts to turn red as she gets angry. No one has told her what has been going on, and now she’s believed to be abducted?
“Safe from your ‘abductor’ Ella. Your parents have said that they are very worried that you have lied about being abducted when you were little. As little as seven years old. Now, you may not remember something like that bu-”
“No Dr. Schwarts. I believe you have everything wrong. I never lied about being abducted! What is going on here?” Ella starts becoming hysterical. She gets up and paces the spot in front of the desk.
“Ella, sweetheart, please sit down. Everything is going to be fine. Just sit down and try to calm down. Would you like a glass of water before we continue?” Dr. Schwarts gets up, preparing to reach for the doorknob when Ella steps in front of her.
“No one is continuing. My parents have made me out to be a liar one too many times before! They’re life is too boring and they believe they need to spice it up by making their daughter out to be a liar! No, I never lied about being abducted. No, I’m not crazy. And no, I am certainly not lying! This session is over Dr. Schwarts. You will not be my counselor from now on because I don’t need one.” Ella opens the door and stalks out of the room, leaving a stunned Dr. Schwarts standing with her mouth open. Ella stops walking and turns her head so she can speak to Dr. Schwarts one last time. “Oh, and one more thing. You better close your mouth before my parents stick lies so far down your throat you start believing them too.” With that, Ella walked down the hall, and into the reception area.
“I’m leaving.” Ella states.
“But darling, you’re only sixteen. Where will you go? Where will you stay?” Ella’s mother gets a worried look in her eyes and starts fanning herself frantically.
“Go to hell. You’re a sad waste of a human being. I’m no longer your daughter.” Ella snatches the keys from her dad, who is too stunned to even react. She opens the door, and the last thing they saw was Ella speeding away in their Ford Escape.

* * *


“Ella! Come on in for supper! Your Uncle Nate is getting cranky!” As soon as Ella hears Aunt Jeanine’s voice, she hops down from the weeping willow tree she was perched up in, and grabs her book.

“Coming Aunt Jeanine!” Ella runs barefooted up to the little old farm house. Hugging her aunt as she walks through the door, she walks behind Uncle Nate, tapping him on the shoulder.

“Well there you are darlin’! I haven’t seen you all day! You haven’t been pestering those horses have ya? They’ll all want your attention as soon as you step foot in there.” Uncle Nate exclaims. Ella grins at her uncle as she sits down in her spot for dinner. Uncle Nate flashes a toothy yet toothless grin. Ella stifles a laugh.

“Alright you two. Let’s sit down and pray.” Aunt Jeanine says softly. Ella, Aunt Jeanine, and Uncle Nate all clasp hands. As Aunt Jeanine begins the prayer, Ella starts her own little prayer in her head. She thanks God for giving her the courage to finally leave her lying problems behind.