Torment

Chapter Two

10 long, lonely years had passed. Mom had finally moved on to a strange man that always seemed to make her smile, make her forget that she had suffered a great loss, make her forget about that day when she finally came home and… Well, it doesn't matter, because it's been a week since they drew up the courage to rev up the engine of Paul's new RV and move out. She never touched my room, not opened it once during those 10 years, as if I never existed, or, I was too much of a failure to remember or honor, well, until a week ago; Mom filed my things, boxed it up quickly and painlessly with the help of Paul. He brought out a smile in her every now and then and I stood there, watching… Always watching. I had hid my old doll by a crack in the wall, somewhere nobody would instantly notice. The doll was all I had left now, all I had left from the grey reality and the colorful days when Dad still was.

I sat on the sidewalk that afternoon, my knees up to my chest and my elbows leaning on them for support. Cars drove by, dogs viciously barked from every corner of wherever they were coming from. Up the block kids were playing ball, yelling and running about with smiles of innocence smeared across their chubby little faces. I let out a sigh, and my eyes darted up to the grey sky. It was warm, humid. I'm sure it was going to rain tonight, what'll I do to keep warm? Haha, what a joke. My eyes darted across the street to Joe's house. Joe, like everybody who knew me, didn't take long to mourn and soon carried on with his life, taking my mistake into account, like an educational lesson. Last time I saw him, he had stuffed his new Jeep with at least 5 suitcases and greeted his parents like it was the last time he'd see them. He went off to college, happy and excited. And I never saw him again.

There was nothing new happening in the neighborhood, except for the fact that today, today our movers would arrive, well, my movers. This house is now mine and mine alone. I'd have to invite new people and new memories and contain my anger when somebody takes over my room. And then finally the cherry-red, family SUV pulled up right in front of the house. I quickly got up, as if embarrassed for slouching at a dinner table.

The family got out of the car. My eyes whisked over a woman, her early 40's. She was a brunette and let her hair rest behind her shoulders, the front tucked behind her ears. She wore simple clothes and looked much like a soccer mum, but a well-put-together, stay-at-home, soccer mum. The Dad had golden flakes of blonde hair just coloring the grey scenery. He seemed fun, and had a football in his hand like he was ready to… And he yelled out, "Matt go long!" And a teenage boy instantly hopped out of the car, his headphones still around his neck, he sprinted across the lawn and opened up his arms eager to catch the ball. And he caught it. "Good catch!" The dad walked over to him ruffling up his soft, chocolate-brown hair that flowed over his green eyes, hiding away the mystery that haunted me. "No playing you guys, we've got a lot of unpacking to do!" The woman yelled from inside the car. She was unbuckling the six year old that seemed over eager, just waiting for what surprises this new castle awaited her. She rushed out the SUV catching up to her Dad and Matt. On queue the moving van arrived, they were pretty late but the woman seemed to contain her frustration and beckoned the moving guys to set everything straight like they were paid the fine fee to do.

The family finally entered the home, "Welp, go explore kids!" The Dad yelled, "Just don't take too long, we got much to do and too little time to do it okay?!" The woman echoed after them, a phone caught between her chin and her shoulder as she packed away the silverware.

The little one raced ahead and Matt, he slowly but surely approached my room. His eyes bounced over every corner, inspecting...

I stood there, still, frozen to the spot, my hands shaking. Ghosts still get nervous. I was nervous. Here this stranger was; a kid, the same age that I was, or am, I guess I haven't aged since my escape, scanning my room.