Jasmin

Prologue*

Warning: The first bit is very difficult and emotional to read and not for the faint of heart. If you are interested in reading still, feel free to skip to the heading 'That morning'.

Please realize I put a lot of time and effort into this and have the pages of notes to prove it so do not steal my work, that would be rude.

Edited by my great friend Tammy!! Thanks!!

Northern Canada, January

A man, short and late 40's with a half buttoned flannel shirt and big belt buckle shining in the dim light entering through the half covered windows, stumbles into a small room in the middle of the night. A single bed under the window is smooth and empty with a small lump of blankets in middle of the bed. The closet door is wide open and there are stuffed animals all over the floor, even a blanket peaking out from under the bed.

The man slides the door shut behind him and shuffles his feet to little bed. He sits on the bed right below the curled up lump in the middle. He can just barely see eyes staring at him in the dark. He smiles, his breath comes out sour and yeasty. His eyes sparkle in the bit of streetlight that enters into the cramped room. His excitement making his movements jerky, and the alcohol smell permeates his short stubble around the lips he keep wetting by flicking his tongue over his bottom lip constantly.

"Hey honey, Its almost your birthday. You know your special gift is coming soon."

"Yes Daddy"

"Shhhh, don't tell Mommy, she wont understand."

"Yes Daddy"

"Quiet now, you know how to be quit"

...

"Good night honey" as he wipes the damp tears off her face and slowly shuffles back towards the door.

The little girl shuffles off the bed and crawls slowly as if she can't move her legs properly, she slides under the bed to where a pillow was that already had an indent, as though it had a head on it just earlier. She closes her eyes as she pulls her scabbed knees close to make as small as she can.

Three nights later

Same small room; blankets under the bed are pulled out from under the bed; the short man is lifting a bundle up to place in the bit of light coming in from the streetlight. Just enough that the room is bathed in gray.

"Hey sweety, I missed you, where were you hiding these last few nights?" The man slides into the room, pushing toys away quietly with his feet so they don't rustle. His voice low and calm. "Well I found you tonight, good thing too, your birthday is in the morning, time for your present. Are you excited honey, I am." He places his hand on the girl, his sour smell making her wrinkle her nose, yet she makes no sound, moves not a muscle. "You know how to be quiet right. Don't wake up Mommy."

That Morning

"Tina, time to wake up" A lovely voice sings into her daughters bedroom.

"I'm up Mommy." The little girl stands beside her bed. Her bright red hair is pulled back into a messy ponytail that doesn't look brushed. Her fancy, lacy white shirt is buttoned and the new birthday jeans show she has been up for a while.

"And dressed too, Happy Birthday, Oh I cant believe my"little baby is 8 years old today. Oh I have to run, you get ready for school, your lunch is packed and your party is this Saturday so remind your friends."

Tina hasn't moved from beside her bed yet. Her hand gripping the wooden rail below the mattress is shaking slightly, as though all her weight is upon her small arm.

"Come on honey, I gotta go to work, your Dads still sleeping so be quiet and try not to wake him. Have a great day, Tina love." Amber comes into the room and gives her daughter a big hug, and kisses her forehead. She then goes and grabs her coat and boots and gets into the car she started ten minutes ago, off to work another day. The car crushing the layer of ice atop the driveway as she backs up in the light of the one streetlight on the corner. Snowflakes just starting to fall

She looks at the small house she lives in with her husband and daughter, hoping they would soon afford to upgrade to a larger town closer to where she works, or at least a real house, not the small trailer she is renting on her small pay check. Maybe her husband Steve, will get out of his alcoholic funk he has been in and hold down a job for longer than a few months at a time. She sighs, things will look up soon, she almost has enough saved up for a downpayment on a home of their own.

With Mom out of the house the little girl packs her little blue backpack; her Lunch kit, a large jug of water, the peanut butter jar and a container of her favourite drink powder, Ovaltine. She moves very slow and very quiet. Getting all her outer clothes on, she walks over to the next house over to meet up with the older kids she walks to school with every morning. Her neighbour called the school a little later to say that Tina was staying home sick, and her own daughter will pick up her homework.

Mrs Nileson is a kind woman, who is only a few years older than Tina's mothers mid twenties, yet very busy in the mornings getting her three rambunctious kids out of the house for school. Tina has walked with her boys and daughter since both girls started kindergarten two and a half years ago, and has never had to call in sick for Tina before as she is rarely ill. The neighbour with the blond curlers still in her hair guessed Amber didn't notice how pale her poor girl was.

Tina told Mrs Nileson that her dad was home sleeping, so she just sent her home. Tina thanks the kind neighbour and heads back towards the little trailer she calls home. Mrs Nileson goes back into her own larger trailer style home after saying goodbye to her three kids. She doesn't notice that Tina has walked past the little trailer, crossed the little dirt road beside it and is now trudging through the ditch to the forest beyond.

...

"I hear so much, this is so exciting. I have chased a few rabbits the last few days and feeling very full. I hear something larger moving to the south. So loud, crunching through the forest, smells of fear and pain. Easy prey. I can stalk it until I get hungry. Don't even need to sneak up on it.

Human? Little kid, red snowsuit. Why are they in the forest? Follow, see what happens."

Three days later

Officer Warren is sitting in a running patrol car with the heater going full blast. He throws his toque off on the seat beside him and runs his hands agitatedly through his short dark hair. He grabs his big satellite phone attached to his middle console and calls in to his Sheriff. "Still no signs of the girl, just lots of tracks, sir. The warm snap here even woke up a few bears."

"Great" a gruff old voice is heard through the phone; "bears, lynx, wolfs, If the cold didn't get her the wildlife sure has. I guess call off the search, we are warnings of a massive freeze coming down from the arctic again and it will be impossible to send anyone into the forest, they will have extreme frost burn in 10 minutes or less."

"What do you want me to do up here, Sergeant Jameson?"

"Get everyone out of the woods before we have a more people in need of medical attention. I just heard of the two teens who we lost the first night, they are in stable condition at the hospital here. You just stay put, I will come up and talk to the Mother. Any word on the stepdad?"

"No. I have the neighbours full statement now, a Mrs Nileson said she heard lots of fighting and screaming four days ago, when Mrs. Frisen-Boiko came home from work, guess its been tough between the couple for a since they moved here. Mr. Boiko had took off before I even got here that night. Mrs. Frisen-Boiko is still saying not to waste our resources on him and just find her little girl. You got anything on him, Sergeant?"

"Yeah, looks like he cleared their account pretty fast, passport was used to catch a flight to South America, some small country, no kids on that flight without their own parents, so looks like he was alone."

"Who does that?" Again, Officer Warren shakes his head and runs his hand over his hair.

"I will be up there in an hour to talk to the Mom. Her parents still around? Someone will have to start planning a funeral. We can search again in the spring to see if we can find the body then."

The officer hangs up the phone and stares out the window of his car at the little white sided trailer in front of him.