ride the wind

History Born the eldest child of Sophia and Matthew McGee, Charlotte lived a rather lonely existence. Surrounded by her dolls, paints, and her only companion, a cat named Dinah, she spent the majority of her time giving her toys make overs or sketching. Her mother was an agoraphobic shut in who homeschooled Charlotte and barely left the house. Because of this Charlotte grew in her mother's shadow, ever curious of the outside world.

By the time she reached the age of eleven Matthew stepped in and demanded their child attend normal school. After a long struggle Sophia relented and Charlotte was allowed to go to The White Rabbit Academy, a private charter school for exceptional children. Exceptional meaning social or learning disabilities. And thanks to her mother's fretting Charlotte had developed both. However, after a few months she started blossoming. She was making good grades, her teacher adored her, but most of all she was making friends.

Finally allowed out into the world, Charlotte's love and knack for art grew into a fully-fledged hobby. She was hardly seen without a sketchbook and several comics in hand. Her mother had taught her to read, but she was still behind for age, but comic books allowed her too feel almost normal. She began dreaming of someday being a graphic artist. And her parents allowed her to take art classes, so long as she kept her grades up.

By the time she entered middle school she was on the honor roll and had made the Dean's List. This is the time that Charlotte remembers as the happiest, although as the years pass it gets foggy and more difficult to recall. Even her parents, who weren't always on the same page and even a child like Charlotte could see that, even they were doing better. Her father was coming home earlier just to spend time with them and they were starting to get Sophia out of the house. Tiny trips at first, down the block, to the park. Then she started walking Charlotte to school.

Things were really starting to look up.

Then disaster struck. Her father had a habit of falling asleep next to his space heater, and one particularly cold night in late January he left it on and it caught fire. The entire house burned with Charlotte and her mother barely escaping with their lives. Their family destroyed, Charlotte and her mother went to stay with Sophia's sister who lived a few towns away.

The next few months were a never ending nightmare. Sophia was forced to find work, which after losing her husband, was a extremely daunting task. And Charlotte had to start another school, Briarwood Junior High. Having withdrawn into herself even more, Charlotte made friends with all the wrong people, and she began using drugs. Pills, mostly, or anything that would keep her numb and emotionless.

She also buried herself in her art. But it began to take a creepy, more twisted route. Her pieces, which were once bright and colorful, were now dark and frightening. Charlotte started dressing differently, as well. Her wardrobe began consisting of inly three colors, black, grey, and purple. And she was now wearing heavy eyeliner and white make up. Despite her mother's pleading, this continued into high school.

At Bumby High Charlotte blended into the background. At the time she was juggling her schoolwork while slowly but surely becoming dependent on pills. She was taking uppers in the morning and throughout the day, then at night she was taking a cocktail of downers that would put her into a dreamless sleep. One evening in mid April, Charlotte and her mother got into a really bad argument. While in her stressed out and angered state, Charlotte took a few extra pills in order to fall asleep.

In the morning when her mother tried to wake her up for school Charlotte was unresponsive. Nearly catatonic, her mother managed to call 911 and the paramedics were able to revive Charlotte at the scene. However, she was taken to the hospital for observation. But once her drug test came back she was sent to Rutledge, a mental hospital.

For weeks she refused to take part in therapy sessions; resigned to sit in her room, staring out the chicken wired window. Finally, after a few eye-opening conversations with her roommate, she began playing the game and going to her sessions. After several months she had a "break-through," where she admitted to feeling responsible for her father's death. This, according to her therapist, was the cause of her drug use and now that she was aware of it, she could quit.

And she even believed this, for awhile. After her release she was placed back in school, and returned her attention to her studies and art. Charlotte stopped hanging out with her old friends and instead she started getting closer to the art kids.

After graduation she started dating one of her artist friends, Danny, and they moved into an apartment together. For five years they on and off, constantly fighting or making up with each other. Their relationship was intense and overtime it became abusive. It started out as a few light smacks but it eventually escalated. Charlotte tried leaving but Danny would track her down and beg her until she took him back. It would take more than breaking up to end things forever, she had to leave the state.

With the aid of her family she was able to secure a place to stay out in Maui, Hawaii. With it's sunny beaches and lively atmosphere, it was the last place anyone would expect Charlotte to go. And so, in the middle of the night, she fled and never looked back.

Currently Charlotte is living in a two bedroom apartment with Theodore Durran and working at the Conjured Crumpet. Artistically she's been trying to get enough pieces together to have an opening at one of the smaller galleries, but with work it's been a challenge.