Ariel? As in in the fairytale mermaid, Ariel? Is he crazy? I stare at his location, knowing that he must know what I am thinking right now. What probably all these people are thinking about him right now. Should I tell him, he's crazy?
"Dad? Are you sure you're okay? Did you hit your head a little too hard or something?" I ask. I know it might sound mean, but maybe he needs to know that he does sound like a crazy person. He sighs briefly, then I suppose he thinks about what to say next. I wait, in silence. I desperately want to know what is going on. Both in his mind and if its really real.
"I'm not lying, Ember. I know it sounds crazy, and honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if you thought so, but Ember, I'm telling you now. I'm telling you, she is your mother." He says. I can't breathe. Maybe my mother exists in his mind differently, maybe she doesn't exist after all, after giving birth to me, and she might not. Ariel cannot be real, she's just a destined girl in a fairytale. Right?
"The one in a fairytale book?" I ask seriously. I cannot believe this. My father can't be serious. This doesn't make sense. But what if he is telling the truth? I sigh, sadly.
"Yes, the name, but Ember, she's so much more different than a fairytale princess." He says, and his voice is so desperate, that I want to believe him, I truly do. I don't know how to believe that what he is telling me is true. Could it really be possible that my mother is Ariel? That my father is not crazy? That I am part of a fairytale? No, I can't believe it. I just can't.
"Dad, I'm sorry. This can't be real. I can't possibly call you crazy, but dad, you need help." I start to say more after, but am interrupted by Madilyn.
"Ember, you may want to reconsider..." She trails off in a mystic trance-like pause. I look to her direction of her voice, hoping to actually see what is going on, but all I see is my usual darkness coating my vision. There is silence, and I wait for an answer, hoping to know what might be going on. "Ember, focus your mind." Madilyn's voice says next to my ear and I feel her move me towards a certain direction. I wait, focusing on the place in front of me. I can feel the wind coming through a window in front of me and know where I am. Standing right behind the kitchen window, a few feet from the table. I think, trying to know what my best friend means, when I hardly notice my vision gradually becoming lighter and lighter, a darkness that is only natural to those who aren't blind becomes clearer and clearer. Suddenly, I am staring at this woman. A woman so familiar yet, I have a feeling of fear. Is this the one I hear laughing in my dreams, the one that tried to drown me more than once.
I step back, and for the first time, I see the people around me. Really see them. "Wh—what is this? How—who?"
"What? What's happening, Ember?" It's Madilyn's voice again. Did she not know what to expect? Did she think that I would just feel the presence of this mysterious woman in front of me?
"I..." I finally get the courage to look at her, really see who she is in front of me. Her beautiful brown curly hair is as smooth and shiny as she described, and a shoulder length that matches her denim jacket and flowery skirt and boots. Her outfit just matches who she was before I saw her. Matched who she was the way I saw her with my mind. Then, my eyes shift to my father, who's not I realized I would look so much like, at least from what he's explained that I'd looked like. I see through a mirror at the cabinet, my reflection. My sundress, my flowing blonde hair, at tendrils down to my waist, my eyes blue. Then I stare. I stare at my father. He's features are similar to mine, the only difference: he has brown eyes. His blonde hair all messy, like I'd actually imagined before. I can't help but stare, mesmerized.
Then, I muster up the courage to find Avery at my side. He is clinging to me like his life depends on it. From here, I can see the curly brown hair and feel his soft skin on my forearm, but can't see his face. Just let me see his face. Just once, before this vision goes away. I plead to myself, and mostly to that woman outside. Whether or not, she is my mother, I want my vision to stay just a bit longer, enough to really see this amazing boy gripping me as tight as he can manage. I stare, waiting. Hoping, but as I wait I can see my vision blurring again. At first I think its from tears, of not blinking for the longest time, but then it gets darker and darker.
"No, no! No! Don't do this to me! I have to see him! I have to!" I yell out the direction of the window, hoping, just hoping that that woman, whoever she may be helps me. Just to see Avery once, just once.
"What? Don't do what? Ember, what is happening?" My father's voice calls out through the regained darkness. I fall to the floor. I feel Avery's arms around me even tighter, and I silently thank him.
"Ember, are you alright?" I hear Madilyn's voice too. I know everyone is surrounding me, hoping for answers. I just can't take it. I hug Avery closer, wanting to really see him, not just in my mind's voice.
"I just want to see him. Just let me see." I cry out, but I know it's too quiet and muffled through newfound tears. I can't help it. I know Avery heard me, and I feel him pull away from me. "Avery, please, don't leave me." I call out, but he is gone. I cry out, and more tears find themselves pulling to the floor and making no sound. I cry harder after he leaves. I just want him back, I want to see him, really see him with my own eyes.
***
When I suddenly find myself opening my eyes from a deep sleep, I can't help but wonder if that was all just a dream. "Dad?" I call out, hoping he'll answer, and then there are footsteps coming closer to my room, and the door opens up to my small, but cozy bedroom.
"What is it Ember?" He asks and I feel him sit down next to me on my bed.
"Was all that just a dream?" I ask quietly. I feel as if I don't want to know the answer, but deep inside, I know I want to know if Avery actually ran from me. If he did, was it out of fear, or something else I'm missing?
"What do you mean?" He replies, and his voice claims sadness, and I slump. It must have been real.
I can't ask about Avery straight, so instead I ask about my mother. "Last night. Was that my mother?" I find that I'm greatly afraid of his answer as I wait. He sighs.
"The one outside the window? You saw her?" He asks back in question. This time, I sigh. He didn't answer my question directly, but in a way. Maybe today is better with indirect answers than I realized.
"Yeah, I did. It was really her? My mother?" I ask. I just want to know. For a fact, that my mother really does exist, and my father isn't some crazy man that I had thought to be completely sane until last night.
"It was." He pauses, and it's silent for a few moments until he continues. "Ember, how exactly did you see her?" He responds, and even though he doesn't say it directly, I know he isn't trying to offend me.
"She..." I can't think of how to explain. How did she manage to do that? The answer is not clear, that I find myself blank for an answer. "I don't know." I say unintelligibly. I hate that I can't explain this, or the fact that I don't know what is happening any more than my father. He should know all this, yet he doesn't.
Then it hits me, if that was all real, Avery must actually pulling away from me for some reason. I feel more tears crawling down my cheeks. "Avery. Is he mad at me?" I ask sadly, because I can't have him mad at me, not now when I need him most. Next to me, I hear my father sigh.
"I don't know, Ember. I don't think he's mad." He answers. I can hear it in his voice, he does think he is, but why lie to me? Why not tell me the truth?
"Where is Avery?" I ask, I just want to know he is safe. I have to know.
"Ember, it's the middle of the night. Let them all sleep. He's probably sleeping in his own bed all cozy." My father answers, but I can't stop feeling like he might not be. The front door flies open in a hurry and I can hear its hinges creak at the pressure. I hear the familiar steps of Madilyn, but they are frantic and heavy. She's running towards us, towards my room. I stand up, wanting to know what is going on. To know why my best friend is here in the middle of the night.
"He's gone! He's just gone! Missing!" Madilyn screams, and I almost cover my ears at how loud her voice is, but I don't. The words sink in, and I know that I had been right. My feelings had been right.
"Who? Who's missing, Madilyn?" My father asks gently, but I can hear the strain in his voice. I can hear the fear that's closed off, deep inside his tone, and I know he feels just as scared that the small, fragile little boy, was missing.
"Avery. Avery is gone." Madilyn says, and her voice is sad and small. I can't believe it. Avery is gone, missing.
YOU ARE READING
Ariel's Daughter
Fantasy"I don't like it, but it's true." It's my dad's voice. Sad and full of guilt. I frown. He must feel horrible, but I realized yesterday, that I can't blame him for this turnout. It was my mother that kept me in the dark all this time. Dad was only th...
