Short and Small

Prologue: Moving

Mom smiles weakly at me as she places the blue butterfly pin into my hair, keeping my short brown bangs out of my face. "There she is!" She jokes while pinching my cheek. My face heats up while I giggle, trying to pull her hand off of my face.

"M-mom! I'm not a baby anymore!" I yelled, squeezing my eyes shut as I pulled harder to try and pry off her hand.

"Aw, fine. You'll always be my baby though." Mom smiles sweetly at me, taking her hand from my face and brushing her long blonde hair behind her ear. "Oh, you've always had your father's eyes." Mom's smile suddenly fades into a more serious straight line, and her expression goes blank. I notice tears swell up in her eyes, her hands falling into her lap. She lowers her head, hair covering her face from my view.

~~~

Dad sits down into the drivers seat of the car. He turns to mom and smiles at her, his face turning red. "So, you girls want ice cream?" He asks as he starts the car.

"Yeah! Yeah!" I chant, throwing my arms up excitedly.

"Then off we gooo!"

~~~

I grab onto mom's hand, gently intertwining my fingers inbetween hers. She looks up at me, tears can be seen streaming down her pale face, and I wrap my arms around her quickly.

"Alright, come on baby. Grab the last box." Mom says to me as she stands up from the floor, dusting herself off. I walk over to the box that had all my dolls and stuff in, and I pick it up, carrying it to the truck we have outside. Mom follows behind me, holding onto hands while watching me try to run to the truck with the small but to me, large box .

She chuckles, picking me up after I placed the box into the truck. I have always been short and really light for my age, I'm only eight and I'm still super small.

My name is Elise Conroy, and I don't have many friends. Mostly because I have always been homeschooled, and I don't know what school is like at all. My mom calls me Elly or El for short, short like my height! I'm really short for my age, but it's almost average! Mom says one day, if I continue to eat healthy and if I take care of myself, I'll grow big and strong! I can't wait for that day. I have light skin, bright yellow eyes, and short light brown hair that goes to chin.

It feels like it's always just been mom and I ever since dad passed away. He used to make the two of us very happy, and we used to live in a nice big home. After the day he passed, mom couldn't get a job, and no one would give her a loan. So now we have to move in with grandma who lives in the spooky forest. I think it'll be pretty though, so I'm excited! I just really miss dad. A lot, and so does mom. I can't wait until I get to see him again.

I stare out the window, my hands gripping onto the seat belt that is strapped over my chest. I watch as we pass by all the trees and other cars, admiring the nice scenery. Once I notice the stars slowly coming into view, I glance over at mom to see if she's tired yet. She has her eyes narrowed, focused intensely on the road. She hasn't been the same ever since dad passed, but honestly, neither have I. He used to make everyone so happy all the time.

The sun creeps up and looms through the many trees that surround our car, besides ahead and behind. I see the little home ahead. I wonder how the three of us will all fit in there. "Alright baby, help mommy unpack." She says as the car comes to a stop in front of the house. She unbuckles her seatbelt and gets out of the truck, walking to the back where we had all our boxes. I do the same and notice grandma walk outside just as I'm grabbing two boxes, stacking them on each other.

"Why didn't you go get me? I could have helped you two." Grandma slides over to us in her black slippers, grabbing a box from the back of the truck.

"Because you're too old mom, and I at least don't want to ruin your back!" Mom yells at grandma. Grandma laughs and starts scooting inside with three boxes in her arms.

"Stop worrying, I'm not that old yet!" Grandma yells back, a huge smile on her face, relieved from laughing. I follow behind grandma so I know where to put the box that I'm carrying, which feels so heavy. How do these adults carry so much?

"This will be your room." Grandma says, opening the door with her leg, the door being cracked open slightly before. Inside it reveals an empty room with a white old patterned dresser and a pink butterfly sheeted bed with a big puffy pillow. I smile as excitement begins to rush through me.

I run into the room and place the boxes onto the floor, grandma placing hers next to where I put mine. I quickly jump onto the bed and grab onto the blanket corners, throwing it over me and wrapping myself in the warmth. "This is amazing! Thanks grandma!" I thank her, smiling widely at her. She smiles back and kisses my head.

"Of course sweetie. I'll go help your mom with the rest of the boxes, don't worry about you helping." She walks out of the room and leaves me alone in the pink room with the blanket curtain, keeping it dark in the room.

I get up from the bed and peel the blanket down. I look around my room, looking at all the bright pink colors, like on the wall and the bed. I touch the ground, the soft white carpet squishing below my hand. "This is so soft!" I admire it, running my hand on the ground.

My mom bursts through the door. "Oh how pretty!" She smiles at me, placing down boxes. I jump up quickly, then nod my head.

"Y-yeah! I love it!" I smile, my heart racing and beating against my chest.

"I'm glad you like it." Mom smiles weakly, sitting down onto my new bed. "I'm sure your dad would have liked it too." Mom grabs her shoulders and rubs them, squeezing her eyes shut. She slowly begins to cry, tears running down her face.

"Oh mom, don't cry!" I jump onto her lap and hug her tightly. She hugs back, patting my back gently. I can feel her hands and legs shaking. "We will see dad again, don't worry mommy." I tell her, holding her tightly.

"Oh honey." She tries to smile, putting my short thin hair out of my face. "I think you should unpack. Grandma will give you a tour later." She takes me off of her lap and sets me onto the bed. She stands up hesitantly and walks out of my small room, leaving me behind.

~~~

I stare out the window, looking at the scenery. I put down my pencil back onto the desk that I've added to my room. I am now twelve years old, and nothing much has changed. I'm still short, my hair is longer, past my shoulder by an inch or two, and my room is now green with pictures pinned to the wall. All the pictures are some I have taken using my Polaroid camera, and the other majority is all stuff I've drawn myself. I still have a twinsize bed with green leaf bedding in the corner of my room, the dresser next to it. My desk is in front of my simple window that has green curtains that I usually move to the sides so I can have the perfect view of outside. I usually use my phone to blast jazz music alone in my room. Mom is usually in the living room drinking, we definitely aren't as close as we used to be. Grandma is usually outside, doing I don't know what.

I pause my jazz song as I hear a knock at my bedroom door. "Yes?" I asked, turning towards to door in my spinny chair. Grandma cracks open the door and smiles at me.

"Why do you stay in your room all day? Come on out." She asks me.

"I don't want to go out there with mom though. You know how she can get.." I sigh, looking back outside, grabbing my pencil and twirling it between my fingers.

"I'm not talking about that outside. I'm talking about where you keep staring off to." Grandma chuckles. I shake my head quickly.

"No way! Going out there would be torture for my allergies." I argued. Grandma grabs onto my shoulder, and I look at her confused.

"You're allergies aren't even that bad. Let's go." Grandma takes my hand and drags me up from the chair.