Thin streaks of silvery moonlight slipped through the billowing curtains above my bed. A strong gust of wind blew through the dark night and even such a noise as the gentle pitter patter of the April showers couldn't send me to sleep. not whilst the beautiful face of my sweet, sweet daughter lingered on my mind. my darling Elizabeth, snatched away from my hands by the talons of death, taken from me by the deadly being. oh, my poor little girl! I thought.
I lay staring at the blank ceiling, my mind buzzing with images of my dearest Elizabeth, my sparkling gem, and her voice playing on repeat in the echoing void of my head. This was insane. I had to go to work tomorrow. I couldn't lay awake on this bed any longer. slowly and silently, I pushed back the covers and walked down the stairs, headed for the kitchen. each step made the wooden boards creak, each creak making me slow my step.
once I reached the kitchen, I grabbed a glass from the cupboard, turned on the faucet and took my water to the table where I sat, pondering how I would ever fall in to slumber. I sipped my water sparsely and before long my head was layed against the cool surface of the table. I balanced on the edge of consciousness, my eyes barely managing to stay propped open for more than a few seconds. just as I was sure I would finally fall asleep, something - someone-appeared in my hazy vision.
A face, small and dainty.
Two eyes, bluer than the ocean.
Rosy cheeks with a childish roundness.
Long ebony tresses hanging like a curtain.
Lips of rose gold.
In that moment, my eyes shot open to devour the image before me.
"Elizabeth," I murmured, my voice shaking with some unknown emotion.
My sweet, sweet Elizabeth. The daughter I once had, now buried six feet under. Deep sorrow surrounded me on all sides. I shouldn't be in this room, she shouldn't be in this room. It is here that she was taken from me. Everyday I am reminded of her and that devastating day.
I was mopping the floor of the kitchen before I began preparing dinner. there was a knife on the table along with the necessary ingredients for the meal. Elizabeth came racing in followed by her four-legged friend. The floor was still wet and in her frenzied excitement, she slipped, knocking the knife from the table. She clattered to the ground, the knife skewered through her neck.
Yet here she stood before me. Across the kitchen floor, in front of my refrigerator stood my perfect, little, dead daughter. Without hesitation, she stepped closer, her face a placid mask of the girl I once loved. My shivers intensified the closer she got until she stopped dead in front of me. Her dainty lips parted and she said, "Mommy, where's Daddy?"
immediately, I raced to the phone to dial my once-partner. Ever since Elizabeth's untimely death, we had gone our separate ways. She had been the glue that held us together but now she was gone, we had nothing. But the phone gone. I turned around to see Elizabeth, her beguiling smile lighting up her face. in her hand she gripped the landline and with each step she took her fingers tightened around the screen.
"What are you doing, Mommy?"
This had gone far enough. Slowly, I stepped towards her, uncertainty enveloping my mind until I couldn't break free. I lunged for the phone in her hand but to my dismay my hand fell straight through and I fell to the floor.
"Why are you on the floor, Mommy?"
I scrambled to my feet and rushed to the door. through the night I ran until finally I reached a phone box. my hand shivering and eyes wide, I dialled Elizabeth's father, only to be greeted by dead static buzzing across the line. I tried to think this nothing and returned to my house where I could stay out of the cold. I still shook but I decided to go back to my chamber and try to sleep: I would keep my guard up though until I drifted off. When I walked back into the house I was relieved to see Elizabeth had taken off and gone. I stumbled up the stairs to my room and climbed into bed.
a sense of comfort lingered in this room; everything from the wrought marble bust to the censer on the mantelpiece seemed to omit it. Even the dreary paintings hanging upon the walls added to the over all feel of the room. Reclining my head against the pillow, I felt my eyes grow heavy as if tiny weights were gradually being hung from my lashes. before I could drift off, though, she materialized from nothing.
She was back.
Like some prophet of chaos, her eyes bore into mine, looked straight into my soul.
"You killed me, Mommy." She moved closer.
"No, stop."
"Mommy, you killed me." Another step.
"No, I didn't."
"Why did you kill me Mommy?" Three steps.
"Ellie, stop, please."
"You killed me, Mommy."
"Stop! Stop!" I clutched onto my hair, tugging viciously.
"Why did I have to die, Mommy?" She was almost in front of me.
"You didn't! You didn't have to!"
The room blacked out.
I'm sorry, Elizabeth. I'm sorry...
