Somewhere In the Snow

Chapter One

"This is the last time I come home to this Jack, and I mean it!", I huffed. There he is in my bedroom with another woman, once again. 
"No Daphne it's not what you think." 
Then what is it. "This will be the last time."
After calming down, I slowly start to pack some of my clothes. The woman leaves without making eye contact and exits through the front door. "Daph please, it was a mistake." I stop packing and exhale a sigh, stating again that I am leaving. While Jack is lying on the couch, I finish packing in silence. He suggested that I could have the bedroom to myself so I could think.

I roll out of bed, my face is stiff from crying into my pillow last night. Jack leaves for work at 5 AM sharp. I'd hoped he was gone already. I stumbled upon a note that had been left on the counter, titled 'My dearest Daphne-' What a joke. "I'm confident that you've given yourself enough time to contemplate your options. ONE you could leave me and have to move in with your father. TWO you could forgive me and stay, we could carry on as before." I crumple the paper and put it in the trash. Last night, I called my father to arrange my plans for today. I had planned to leave before Jack completed his shift. The drive from my dad's place to mine is about an hour long. As I waited, I decided to pack up more of my belongings. A car horn blared outside my window roughly 30 minutes later. It has been over a year since I last saw him. My father and sister live in Tucson Arizona. Although I work there frequently, I have never had a chance to visit with them. It will be nice to live closer to work.

"Hey sugar." Dad says. 
"Hi Dad, I've missed you." 
We began loading his truck with some of my things, lucky for me, he kept my room the way it was once I moved. He always said Jack was no good for me. He was right. "I can't thank you enough Dad." He turns to me, "Baby this is what I'm here for, it's my pleasure to get you away from that excuse of a man." Halfway through the drive back to Tucson I decided I need to quit my job at the boutique, I applied for a second job so that I could earn extra cash to fall back on if Jack and I were to split. Props to me for thinking ahead of time.

As we were pulling up to my father's house a young girl with brown hair in a red dress came running out the front door. Wow I can't believe how much she has grown. "Daphne!" I heard from the girl as she came sprinting towards me. "Elizabeth, wow you've gotten so tall, and your hair is so long." "Yeah, I cut it once a year and donate it," she replies. Elizabeth has always been a generous person; she gets that trait from our father. She was sixteen the last time I saw her. Now look at her, eighteen years old soon to be nineteen in November. I head into the big yellow house to have a moment in my old room as my father unloads my things. It's exactly how I left it. So many memories in just one room. We move things around and get my room situated to my liking. After a while things calm down and I'm left alone in my room. I hear my phone ring. The name Jack, in a bright white color on the top of my screen. I hesitate to answer the phone.
"Y- yes."
"Where are you Daph?" 
"Unfortunately for you I've decided to go with option one." I hung up the phone.
The phone rings three more times before it stops. Jack has a persistent personality. Dad yells my name to persuade me into the kitchen for dinner. Chicken Alfredo. I sit down at the table next to Elizabeth. "I promise I'm fine, you don't have to cook my favorite meal." He laughs and turns to me and Elizabeth at the table. "Are you kidding me, we have this every night." Elizabeth rolls her eyes, "Dad, stop trying to be funny." I inform them about the call I just received as we begin eating our meals. Dad offers to pay to have my number changed but I decline. He's given me enough already, I could not possibly ask for more. After finishing our conversation we find our way to our rooms. As I'm falling asleep, I hear a soft knock at my door. "Sis, are you awake?" "Yes, come in." I whisper back. She enters my room with a sad expression on her face. "Do you ever think about Mom?" The sentence feels like a knife to the chest. I ask her to sit on the bed with me. 
"What's going on?"
"Sometimes I just think about mom, I really miss her."
"I think about her too."
"You do? I thought you hated her"
I'm six years old left alone to take care of my sister. Momma is sleeping on the couch and Daddy is at work. Elizabeth is throwing up; she won't explain to me what's going on. I try to wake Momma up, but nothing is working. El starts twitching and soon falls unconscious. I'm screaming and crying for help, but Momma still won't budge. I go outside and scream as loud as I could. A neighbor runs over to me and offers to call 911. I let her in to see Elizabeth and horror struck her face. 

"Daphne are you ok?" I quickly snap back into reality. "Yes, I'm fine. I'm just exhausted from today ." She apologizes for keeping me up late, hugs me and then exits out of my room. I take a deep breath as I'm sitting there, trying to get the images of two-year-old Elizabeth having a seizure out of my mind. She asked me if I hated my mother... The only thing I know for sure is that my mother was experiencing the best high of her life while I was struggling to save my sister. Elizabeth doesn't remember much about our mom because she was so young. Unfortunately for me, I remember everything.