Perhaps I am starting off in too miserable a tone for a diary. But I figured I should start at the beginning. (I’m not one for writing my thoughts on paper, but Cassandra, a sister of mine, assured me that it was a great way to settle my thoughts.) So back to my father.

It wasn’t his demeaning personality that made the four of us run away. No, it was the future he had dreamed for us. You see, my brother Mordrid and I both wanted to be magicians. Our friends and neighbors were always encouraging us to make a profession of our talent. None encouraged us more so than our sisters though. Sophitia and Cassandra. I am the oldest, then Sophitia, Mordrid, and then Cassandra. Hm. Perhaps I should also mention that Mordrid and I were born with a disease that no doctor has yet been able to define. We of course gave it our own special name, "Glassititus". It makes us look like skeletons, and I don’t mean in the sense that we seem anorexic, though we both are fairly thin. What I mean is that our skin and muscle tissue is so thin that our bones show through. I can remember making funny faces in the mirror to see the bones move. Heh. Our last names are “Mwerto” which, if you pronounce it the right way, sounds like the Spanish word for “death”. Quite ironic if you think about it.

Father’s attitude towards our… difference… just added to my hatred for him. Our encouragements from others to be “The Mwerto Brother Magicians” were quickly crushed when we proposed the idea to him. Oh how I distinctly remember the day we had chosen to disturb his 7 o’ clock smoking time. His stern eyes glaring, pipe puffing. His words were cold.

“I will never see my sons become circus freaks!”

It was obvious the discussion was over. I cried that night. Of course not in front of anyone, especially Mordrid. He was greedy. No. Wait. He /is/ greedy. Money loving and quite the ladies’ man. He would have called me a wuss for he's never understood sympathy.

Somehow Cassandra knew I was upset. My disguise must have been seen through for she came to me in private with a tissue and hugged me as I wept. Mordrid says men shouldn’t cry for it "shows weakness", but Cassandra told me never to listen to him for she believes crying shows a good heart.

The next week we plotted our escape from our planned futures. We learned father was going to be pushing us further into business soon. Slaves to politics as I called it. Our plan had been to wait for the annual circus to come around and run away from home as it was going to leave. Mordrid and Sophitia loved the idea of getting away. It was an adventure! Cassandra, however, wasn’t as keen on the idea and it took me a while to convince her to leave. But soon the day came and we waited until night had fallen. I stole money from father’s wallet and left a King of Clubs card inside it. I still wonder if he knew if it was my idea to run away…

-Lucius Mwerto