The Rift Walker

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Chapter 2

Kaelyn groaned as she woke, rubbing her aching ribs; the floor was hard and unforgiving. She could hear the telltale thuds of the Idiot's approach and waited patiently whilst he struggled with the keys and finally opened the door. "Bread and cheese this time . . . that's very adventurous of you" she approved when she saw what he had brought for her this time. He glanced at her bucket, saw that she hadn't used it and then shuffled out locking the door behind him.

Although Kaelyn hadn't eaten for a long while, for once she could barely manage a few bites of bread and a sip of water. Try as she might she couldn't stop her thoughts drifting constantly back to the dream she'd had not so very long ago. The whispering voices constantly flitted through her head along with the images she had witnessed within the flames. The odd part was that although she had never had this dream before there was something about it that seemed so familiar. The voices.

Shaking her head slightly, she forced herself to eat a few more pieces of the curled bread and cheese and finish half of the cup of water. After, she contented herself with wandering around her cell searching half heartedly for any weakness. Again she found none. Having nothing else to do, she curled herself back into her blankets and stared at the cracked ceiling as she allowed her thoughts to float to the past.

"Ouch! Daddy I hurt my finger!" Kaelyn had whipped her fingers back and stared in a mixture of horror and fascination at the bead of blood that welled on the tip of her finger. Her father grasped her hand gently and pulled it closer so he could study it too.
"Sweetie, it's just a little cut, you'll be fine." He'd smiled at her reassuringly as he let go of her hand.

"But it hurts!"

He chuckled then and pulled little Kaelyn into a hug. "It's only a tiny cut; all it needs is a little cleaning. You can be brave enough for that I'm sure?"

Kaelyn sniffed slightly, thinking. . . She grumbled something about how she might have to 'anput-ate' it if she didn't get a whole bowl of strawberries . . .

Laughing, he picked her up and swung her in a small circle until she squealed with laughter. He had cleaned the cut and returned to the garden to pick some of the ripest strawberries from a little patch and removed the worm eaten pieces of fruit.

Once washed, her father placed the bowl before her where she sat on a bench sipping happily from a glass of cold lemonade. She'd beamed at him and ate four within seconds and then offered the rest to him. He plucked one and then insisted she should eat the rest to which she had replied with "I'll save some for Mummy when she returns. She loves strawberries!"

His mouth had tightened at that. "Kay, your mother left long ago. . . I don't think she's coming back . . ." He'd spoken gently but firmly but she'd refused to believe it. However, she had remained silent knowing that her father didn't like to discuss the issue of her mother's absence.

But Kaelyn knew she would return to her someday.
As her mother had once walked out of the door carrying a large suitcase, she would walk back in someday, still carrying that same suitcase, smiling and saying how much she had missed her little girl. It had only been one year. . .

Her Dad ruffled her hair sadly when he saw the fervent hope on his daughters face and continued to tend to the garden cutting the grass whilst little Kaelyn ate.

An older Kaelyn smiled wistfully at the memory and curled herself deeper into the blankets.