Zipper

3

Emmy didn't like medicine. It smelled gross, tasted grosser and sometimes made her feel tired. When the red-haired girl—stop sign red, and Emmy thought it was beautiful! —handed Kat the bag from the drive through window, Emmy scrunched up her nose as if she could smell the medicine already.

"Is it going to make me sleepy?" Emmy asked.

"Yes, maybe," Kat said as she signed her name on the little device the lady handed her.

"But will it make me too sleepy to see daddy when he's home from work?"

"We're not going to take it until bed time, after daddy's home and after dinner."

"But daddy's not always home before dinner."

Eric, was at work a lot. His days started early and sometimes ended late. A lot of times he was too tired to play with Emmy, tired in his body or tired in his mind. He'd say he was tired in his mind a lot. His job was hard, Kat explained to Emmy before. He's a police officer, and he catches the bad guys. Emmy can picture him, like Spider-Man or a parkour expert, climbing and leaping from building to building, anything it takes to corner the bad guy.

Even though, according to Emmy, he's obviously the strongest and best of the good guys, sometimes the bad guys are more bad than other times. Sometimes they do things that bother daddy very much. Scary things. But daddy keeps after them because that's what superheroes do.

"Well if you fall asleep before then, you can say hello to daddy in the morning," Kat said to Emmy, then she smiled at the red-haired girl and said, "thank you!"

Kat drove the car away, maneuvering onto the street.

"Will it make me spotty?"

This was something that had happened before when Emmy took an antibiotic one time. She was covered in red spots that lifted like welts on her whole body, even her feet.

The car came to a halt at a stop light.

"No, Em. You can't be allergic to this one."

Emmy looked toward the light in front of them because she liked to watch it turn green, but someone caught her eyes. Zipper! She was standing right in front of the car, a frown on her face. She had both hands out as if she was trying to push the car back.

Kat didn't say a word. It was as if she didn't see Zipper at all, even though she stood out like an eerie neon danger sign in the middle of the street, wearing bright red, with dirt all over her. Zipper mouthed words, but Emmy didn't know what words they were, she was too busy watching Kat not see Zipper. She was obviously trying to tell someone something, eyes wide in desperation, lips moving, hands waving frantically. Maybe she needed help? But what could Emmy do to help anybody? She wasn't a grown-up. Emmy looked at the other cars, nobody seemed to notice what was going on. Whatever was going on with Zipper, nobody seemed willing to help her.

As the light changed a sick feeling jumped inside Emmy. What if Kat, unable to see Zipper, hurt her with the car? Kat hit the gas, gaining speed towards Zipper, and Emmy yelped.

"Mommy, don't!"

But it was too late, Kat had driven straight into the strange lady...but somehow, she was gone before the car could plow into her. Disappeared. Well, not really, it was more like she turned into a shimmery dust that floated in the air a bit. Emmy stared in awe as they drove through it. Then Emmy heard Zipper's giggle, the one from the woods, only this time the sound was from right beside her in the car, even though nobody was sitting there.

"Don't what?" Kat asked, slight annoyance in her voice.

She probably was mad, Emmy thought, because Kat had told Emmy several times not to yell in the car. But Emmy couldn't help it, sometimes there are exceptions--or at least there should be. She caught Kat's narrowed eyes in the rearview mirror. Emmy's were wide, completely alert. Kat's gaze softened upon meeting Emmy's frightened look through the mirror.

"What's wrong?" Kat asked again, more gently.

"I saw..."

"What?"

"I saw...someone."

Kat looked around outside the car.

She can't see her, but doesn't she hear her? Emmy wondered, watching Kat search for this someone that Emmy had seen. She had no clue, probably looking for someone they knew. Not a mysterious woman who looks a lot like Kat but acts way different. Goosebumps covered Emmy's right arm, as if a chilly breeze was hitting her from where the empty seat beside her was...only Emmy suspected it wasn't as empty as it looked.

Why can I see and hear her, but nobody else can? Emmy wonders.

She squeezed Hoppy tight.