The Grey's Curse

Chapter Five - Little Girl

*A few Days Later*

I leaned against the wall; staring silently out of my window with my fuzzy robe on as I peacefully watched little snowflakes gently fall to the snow covered ground.

'It's so mesmerizing'

The glowing pure white snow glistened and twinkled from the soft sun beams and I closed my eyes as I rested my head on the cold window; enjoying the coolness on the glass.

I had been standing by my window for awhile now; utterly mesmerized by the scenery...and plus I didn't have much else to do 'I wonder if Mom will remember my birthday this time?' I wondered to myself with my arms crossed, my birthday was tomorrow and so far she hasn't said a single word about it.

Truth be told I wouldn't be surprised if she did forget.

The last seven years have been rough between Mom and I, we had drifted away from each other so much in that time 'I don't even know why, things just..changed' It was a fact that always haunted me.

And although used to it, that didn't stop the sting every year.

'At least Grandma remembered...' I smiled faintly at the voice message I got from her; I've been replaying the message in my mind ever since I first heard it.

"Hello little Maria, oh I guess I should stop calling you that now huh? My little muffin turns fifteen years old tomorrow if feels like it was just yesterday that I got a call from your father saying that you were born, I still remember how excited and happy he was and the look on his face when he held you...I've never seen him more in love and happy, it warmed my heart knowing that my little boy was so happy and my little grand baby was so small and beautiful, you already had little hairs on your little chubby head. I kept that little memory on replay in my mind, I suppose I should stop rambling now, I wish you a happy early birthday my little muffin"

I couldn't help but smile when she began talking about how Dad acted when I was born and I felt somehow closer to him in a way 'So he was happy to see and hold me..' I glanced at Mr. fluffy tails who was sitting on my bed 'You're all I got left of him Mr. fluffy tails' Mr. fluffy tails was my most treasured possession, he was the last gift my Dad gave me before he died.

It also meant that I fought Mom tooth and nail to keep him.

He was a small bunny with long ears and you guessed it: a fluffy tail. his fur was still soft and not a single speck of dirt on him 'We've been together for seven years now Mr. fluffy tails...I can't believe it's been that long since he's been gone' I could still remember the day he died vividly, the clothes he was wearing before he left and the sound of his voice telling me that he loved me before taking off, he was driving home on my birthday when a drunk driver t-boned him.

The drunk driver survived but Dad had sadly succumbed to his injuries 'I still remember waiting for him to come home to blow out my birthday cake candles when we got the call...Mom was a crying mess and I was in such a shock that I didn't even talk for a few days' I clenched my trembling fists as tears of anger and grief brimmed my eyes.

'It's not fair that he's gone, he didn't do anything wrong'

I sighed and relaxed my fists, shaking my head with my eyes closed 'That's enough Maria, Dad wouldn't want you to stay angry' I reluctantly walked away from my window and laid down on my bed.

I had just started to relax when Mom's head suddenly popped up in my doorway, "I'm going out for a few hours today, you know the rules: no going outside, clean up your messes and call or text me if you need anything" I closed my eyes as I answered.

"Yeah I know, be careful I love you" I waited to hear a response back but all I got was silence and the sound of footsteps walking away and the clicking of the door closing 'Why does she hate me?' I huffed and slowly turned over on my side to face the window.

'What do I do now?'

I rolled on my back to stare up at my ceiling in boredom but luckily as I was thinking I was reminded of my sketchbook that resided in my drawer.

'It's been awhile since I've last drawn'

I reached down to my drawer and grabbed both my book and pencil and I couldn't help but smile as soon as the pencil touched the paper. when drawing I never really had a plan, I would just let the pencil take the lead and I would go from there.

But this drawing was...odd in a way. there on the paper was a small portrait of a little girl with black hair and dark eyes with a little frown on her childish face.

'She looks so familiar...'

I narrowed my eyes at her as if that would help me figure out who she was but the longer I stared at her the more I could feel a headache coming.

'Maybe I saw her on tv or something?'

That still didn't feel right but that was the only thing I could think of 'I'm sure I'll figure it out sooner or later' I continued drawing for a few more hours, all little drawings of Dad but there was always something that I couldn't get right on his face.

I huffed as I looked at his drawn face 'I wish I had a picture of him' after erasing and redoing a couple of his features a couple of times and increasingly growing more and more frustrated as nothing I did seemed to help, I decided to call it quits as my hand was starting to cramp up and sleepiness started to kick in.

I glanced at my window and was surprised to see pure darkness 'I guess that explains why I'm so tired' I put both my book and pencil up and settled back on the bed and grabbed Mr. fluffy tails, holding him close to me as I slowly drifted off to sleep, my last conscious thought before falling asleep was telling Dad goodnight.

*Flashback dream*

I was sitting on the stairs; eavesdropping on my parents when I heard them talking from my room "Josh you told me that it would be gone by now" I hear Mom sigh sounding exhausted and massaging her forehead.

Dad looked miserable and sad making me wonder what was happening 'Get rid of what? Daddy said that they weren't talking about me but who are they talking about then?' Dad leaned back on the couch.

"I know Kat, I'm sorry I really am trying here, but you know how my mother is with all of this, she doesn't ever want to talk about this stuff" he crossed his arms looking stressed.

I looked down at Mr. fluffy tails "Do you know who their talking about fluffy tails?" I whispered softly to him while he stared back at me blankly, I nodded my head agreeing with him "Yeah I didn't think that you would know, but it didn't hurt to try, I wish Evie was here she might know" I jumped when I heard a loud thump where Mom and Dad are.

I quickly peaked my head out to see what happened and I see Mom standing up with her hand up to her mouth and Dad standing slightly in front of her; blocking her from a little table that sat next to the couch.

'What happened and why do they look scared because of a little table?'

When Dad moved closer to the table I saw a picture frame on the floor with cracks all over it.

'How did that happen? That must've been what I heard earlier but how did it fall?'

I leaned more to see what the picture was and saw that it was Mom and Dad's wedding picture that my Mom always kept clean and pristine now with a big spiderweb crack covering the whole picture.

'Uh oh, Mom's gonna freak out, they never let me touch it'

Mom had streaks of tears running down her face as she stumbled closer to Dad and gently grabbed the picture as if it would fall apart and all was silent.

Her expression when she looked up at Dad was one of utter heartbreak and defeat, "Please stop this" she was full on sobbing now, "I don't want our little girl hurt" her voice cracked and that was all that I needed to break and make my own tears start falling as my mouth began to quiver and I couldn't help but to cry along with her.

Even though I had no idea what was happening, I felt that this was somehow my fault.

"I'm sorry Mommy"