In the dark

18

BANG BANG BANG "Be quiet in there!" BANG BANG BANG "Do you hear me?! I SAID QUIET!"

"Yes, daddy"

"If I hear ONE more sound, so much as a peep come out of this room, so help me!"

She could hear the stomping of footsteps moving further and further from her door. She could listen to the stomps continue down the stairs, through the hallways, and finally, a door slamming shut. All was quiet in the house once more.

She stood up from the bench, tiptoed over to her bookshelf, and selected a small, burgundy leather-bound book. She was curling it around her petite hands and holding it close to her chest. 

She stepped lightly again and made her way to her bed. With one foot on the ground, she raised her other leg and placed her knee on the mattress. She added pressure to the mattress, and it made a little squeak of the springs. The girl paused for a moment. Her ears were tuned into the sounds of the house. She was waiting, waiting for the sound of a door swinging open and slamming against the neighboring wall. That sound meant she was heard, and a punishment would be met. 

Stilling herself for a moment longer, she eventually willed herself to move again onto the bed. She tried putting the least amount of weight on her mattress as possible. She moved softly, guiding herself down onto the bed, and rested her head against the pillow. She was checking once more for any more sounds. 

Hearing the deafening silence still, she turned her eyes to the book in her hands. Her fingers traced around the gold letters on the cover, bringing a small smile to the girl's face. 'Peter and Wendy;' it was her favorite. She had read it so much that the book didn't even close all the way. The pages were hanging on for dear life with the hope of not falling off the twine that held the pages together. There were tears, smudges, and stains throughout the entire book. She didn't care, though. The book took her to a place far from where she was now. 

"Where should we go today?" she whispered, "Off to bury pirate treasure? Or sing with the mermaids?" She bent the book and used her thumb to flip the pages over until she found the spot she wanted and opened the book.

Blank. The words on the page were blank. Thinking maybe she had landed on the wrong page, she flipped again, but the emptiness remained the same. "No!" she cried out. She threw her legs into the air and then pushed them down, forcing her upper body to move off the bed to sit up straight. Loud squeaks from the mattress came underneath her as she crossed her legs and hunched her back over the book. Her eyes widened as she flipped through the book, coming up with blank page after blank page. "No!No!No!" she screamed.

The slamming of the door caught her attention. The deep rumble of a voice was verberating throughout the house and told her she was done for. The stomps going down the halls and ascending the stairs told her it was too late. She closed her eyes tight and wished for mercy from the wrath coming her way. 

Then there was silence. 

The girl relaxed her face and slowly opened her eyes. Her eyes were blurry from the tears that were trying to escape. She wiped them from her eyes quickly and focused on what was in front of her. Her book, full of blank pages, was no longer in her lap. Instead, a light tan, the grainy desktop was in front of her. She investigated further. The desk was attached to the chair she was sitting on. Underneath her seat was a wire basket full of her books. 

She could see her faded black, clunky shoes on her feet and her gray knee-high stockings. A frumpy navy and gold plaid skirt rested above the tops of her thighs. From her viewpoint, she could see the bottom of her dingy white button-down shirt and her navy jacket covering her arms.