Haunted (Under Construction)

Silence

 I unlocked the front door and walked in. I heard the pitter-patter of small feet running down the stairs. I then saw Erika's dark ash brown pigtails bounce as she ran down the steps. When she reached to bottom of the stairs her face lite up when she saw me. She ran full speed towards me, but tripped over the curled edge of the floor mat. She looked up at me with teary eyes. 

          "Oh Shit!" I said as I ran towards her. I scooped her up in my arms , and she wrapped her arms around my neck as she sobbed. Although Erika was six years old she was born with a growth defect and looks to be about four. I sat her on the third step and tried to walk away to get the first aid kit but she held an iron grip around my neck. 

          "Hey, Erika I need to get you a band-aid. Okay?" I told her calmly as I stood in an awkward bent over position. She shook her head at me and squinted her eyes shut. 

          "No." She said. 

          "Eri-" 

          "No don't go. I'm fine." She tried to say but the tears continued to flow. 

          "Yet your knees are bleeding." I said. I tried to stand up again, but she prevented me from leaving.

          "No. I need to learn how to be tough." She said. I smiled down at her and ruffled her hair. Her hands instantly flung to the top of her head and she glared at me. 

          "Now what do you mean?" I asked her. 

          "I'm daddy's daughter and the youngest. So I need to be tough like you." she explained. I laughed and lifted her up again. I rested my forehead against her's and said. 

          "Erika your right, you are the youngest, but you don't have to be made out of stone. You understand? That's why you have us, to be tough and mean for you. Got it?" I told her. She had stopped crying by now and nodded at me. 

          "I get it Jeri." She was the only person on the planet that I let call me that.  Not even Mom could call me that. 

          "Now do you want a hello kitty or spider man bad-aid?" I asked her as I walked to the bathroom. She scoffed and said,

          "I'm to old for that stuff. I'll have a red sparkly one." She said seriously. I laughed at her and took her to the bathroom. 

          I sat her down on the toilet seat as I searched for Erika's band-aid box. 

          "So... why do you smell funny?"she asked me. I smiled to my self at the thought of Avery. 

          "I saw a friend to day." I told her. 

          "It was a girl wasn't it! Is she pretty?" she asked me. I looked over at her and smiled. I thought about Avery when she smiled, her laugh, her freckles, her stunning green eyes, and her florescent orange hair. I loved how she had now use for cosmetics. She had nothing to hide, well except for that nasty bruise. That then brought me to the thought of her leaving. If she knew what I was to her would she leave? Perhaps she would stay here with me, where she belongs, or perhaps she would be horrified and leave right then and there. I was brought back to reality when Erika snapped her fingers in front of my face. 

          "You in there , Jeri?" I looked over at her and said, 

          "Is she beautiful?" A smile once again played upon ,my lips at the mere thought of her. Erika's eyes shined with curiosity. 

          "Whats her name?" 

          "Avery" 

          "Is she like you?"