farfalla

Before

"Mummy who is that?" I asked referring to the abrupt and sudden harsh sounds of the knocking coming from the front door. The front door sounded that of angry when the loud knocks transitioned into that of pounding against our block from the outside.

"Listen to me carefully baby..." My mum picked me up from the floor, I had been mindlessly playing with my Barbie dolls on. Her steps were quickening up the stairs as if she were trying to win against the limited time we had. "We are going to play the quiet game okay? You need to stay as quiet as you can."

I was carried on my mother's hip and supported by her right arm when we reached the upstairs. She began to shut off all the light switches she was in reach of for reasons I did not understand. Her raven black hair was beginning to stick to the sides of her face from the beads of sweat she was producing from the nervous behavior and the rapid heartbeat I could hear while I was up against her chest.

"Why mummy?" I questioned feeling somewhat uneasy from the escalating bad energy that was transpiring into the air around us. The lights had disappeared and the loud pounding on the door had become louder since we were downstairs a few seconds ago.

"To keep you, safe love." My mummy answered coming into my room and setting me down onto my feet. I felt more alone now as she shut the light off for only my night light to bare the finest bit of light that I held onto.

"Mummy, I'm scared!" My eyes welled up with tears feeling the fear of darkness and the unknown danger downstairs heighten. I didn't understand why my mum was turning off light switches and pacing around the room searching for something.

"You're going to be okay baby I promise." She bent down to my level stroking my cheek while strategically pushing me back into my oversized closet. I tried to hold onto her hand and whined when she pulled herself away but was quieted when she spoke in a hushed tone. "We are going to play another game okay? We are going to play hide and seek, you hide in here and don't come out for anyone alright? Don't come out until I come back to get you understood?"

"I don't want to play Mummy!" I whined afraid of the darkening atmosphere around me. Feeling as if the darkness and monster making shouting sounds downstairs could easily eat me up. I knew that this wasn't a regular game of hide and seek with my mum only because she knew exactly where I was hiding. The point of the game was to hide in a place where no one knew you were in the first place yet the one I thought I was playing with knew where I was.

"Remember to be quiet." She warned shutting the door to incase me in the darkness that had now taken over all around me. I could barely see a thing with no night light to comfort my childish fear of the dark. Shrinking myself in the cause of the darkness I pulled my knees to my face and began to scoot back to the back corner of my closet.

I heard a loud sharp echo downstairs and began to cower in fear of the deep masculine voice that thundered throughout the entire home. I swallowed hard shaking from the fear that dressed me in black, silently praying for my mum to come back. All I wanted was for my mum to come back and tell me the games were over and that everything was going to be okay. Footsteps were heavy on the stairs when my ears became more sensitive to sound in the burning silence of the closet.

"Ophelia?" The husky voice drew out the "A" sound in my mum's name. I pictured the voice as the big bad wolf my daddy used to read about in bedtime stories. Paralyzed by the substantial steps taken I held my breath to try and stop my crying that may make noise. The click of an object was picked up by my ears when the footsteps seemed to disappear down the hall more towards my mummy and daddy's room.

A low chuckle came from the big bad wolf when his footsteps stopped just a few feet away, "Oh Ophelia love, give it up now before you make things messier then they have to be."