Cindy always watched the kids playing on the puddles outside her window. They were her age but they looked far different from her. They wore ragged clothes and they had grimy faces. While Cindy had to dress in voluminous gowns and always needed to keep her face and hair clean.
"Can I play with them, Father?" She asked one day.
"Not yet," Her father told her. "You'll only get wet and dirty."
Cindy waited until the summer when the sun was golden and the ground was dry. She saw the children running around the fields of sunflowers. The birds tapped on her window and sang a merry song.
"Can I play with them now, Father?" she asked again.
"Not yet, the sun is too hot, you might faint from the heat."
The leaves started to fall and when she asked again. Her father gave her the same reply," Not yet."
When all was white and the air was frigid. The kids with ragged clothes were still playing outside, throwing snowballs and making snow angels.
"How come I can't go and play with them?" She asked in silence and a voice answered, "Not yet, the weather might get you sick and the cold might take you."
In spring, she wondered, why does each year they get fewer. "Where are the other kids?"
"You see, the cold took them away," the father said. "That's why you shan't go outside."
But finally, at the end of Spring, she asked, "Can I go outside now, Father?"
"Yes Cindy, you may."
Her heart leaped for joy and hope bloomed inside her. Cindy stepped outside the door, only to retrace her steps back. Not to her father, but to wear her boots and get an umbrella.
The rainy season came.
YOU ARE READING
Don't Blink!
HorrorA collection of compelling flash fiction that ranges from slice of life to murder. Don't Blink! Keep your eyes wide open. Flash Fictions: -Live Feed -Total Dark -Maple -Op-Face -Mimic -They -Twists and Turns -Empty Seat -Unhinged -Open Door -Seashe...
