A Chance to Heal

Unfortunate News

Sitting up in bed, Maggie yawned as she stretched her arms over her head. Grimacing slightly as she felt her joints pop. She ran her fingers through her hair as she slowly became more alert. Her eyelids slowly lifted, she did a brief scan of her bedroom. Noting the clothes and garbage that littered the floor. As she pushed the covers off of herself, she made a mental note to clean up later. Standing up, she gathered some clothes from her dresser. A simple pair of dark jeans along with a dark green sweater. For once the weather was actually pleasant enough to wear it. Something she'd been dying to wear for months now. Ever since the first day of September. Along with other things that she was hoping to do with her Mother later that day. Mostly getting pumpkins to carve with her. Maybe roasting some seeds as well. Traditions that they had only recently started together.

They only started it a couple of years ago. Both hadn't really done much for Halloween in twenty years. Not since her Father had-she wasn't going to think about him today. Not now, She hadn't thought of him in so long. But lately she hadn't been able to think of anything but him. How he used to help her carve pumpkins. Or how he used to make leaf piles for her and her friends. And when he took them trick'r'treating in their neighborhood with Nancy. Usually dressed in costumes that would match hers. Even a few times convincing her Mom to dress up with her. These were the only few good memories that she had with her Father. All of which she didn't really want to think upon. It hurt too much to think of him.

Heading into the bathroom, she shoved her clothes into the cupboard under the sink. Trying even harder to push thoughts of her Father to the back of her mind. Focusing on just getting ready for the day. Nothing was going to distract her from spending time with her Mother. Not thoughts of a Father who wasn't worth a thought or tear. And on the Mother who got them out of that situation. It was over, done with, and gone. Just like he was.

Dead, punished and gone.

___________________________

Once out of the shower, she quickly dried off. Using her hair-towel to wipe off her mirror. Looking at her reflection, she gave a soft sigh. Her face wasn't exactly ugly. But the lack of sleep was showing. Mostly through the rather large under eye bags she had. Those weren't exactly hard to hide with make-up. Well, most of it could be hidden with make-up. She sometimes wasn't sure if what she used worked well. Sometimes she felt she could still easily see them on particularly bad days.

Ignoring this, she quickly got ready for the day. Then she quickly made up her face. And putting her hair into a bun as she headed out of the bathroom. Humming to herself as she gathered her things. Shoving them in the purse she had on top of her dresser. Frowning slightly as she struggled to zip it up. In a low voice she muttered to herself,"Alright, it'll be a few hours before Mom gets here."

"I probably should clean my room sometime today.",she sighed. That wasn't something she was entirely looking forward to. As actually cleaning it up was making her somewhat anxious. But leaving it there was bugging her in a different way. Mostly shame that she wasn't keeping her room clean. And the idea that her Mom could possibly come in and see how she lived made her feel bad. Despite the fact that her Mom didn't actually go into her room whenever she visited. Though her anxiety didn't seem to care about that kind of thing. It was too strong to ignore entirely as she set her purse back on top of the dresser. Then she quickly picked up the pieces of clothes that littered her bedroom floor. Heading into the hallway to put them into her hamper. Making a mental note to herself that she should the laundry when she got home. As of yesterday, she was actually running out of clothes to wear. Well, clean clothes to wear. A part of her brain noted that she could wear the same clothes for a while. If they weren't too terribly stained or smelly. Of course she wouldn't do that. Even if it was really tempting to do some days. It just wasn't hygienic and she knew it.

And she wanted to do things that were more healthy. That had been a goal of hers since New Years. One that she'd been somewhat up keeping. Somewhat. A few times she just felt too tired to really make a homemade meal and got Mcdonald's. Sometimes getting Subway when she wanted to feel faux-healthy. When she got back to her room, she picked up the bags of fast food off the ground. Shoving them into each other as she picked up the rest of the trash. Once she was done, she hurried into her kitchen and shoved the garbage ball into the trash. Then went back to fix her bed for the day.

Once that was done, she checked the time on the stove. It would only be a few more hours before her Mom showed up. So she decided to make a quick snack. Not wanting to eat too much before they went to get lunch. Nothing too heavy but nothing too light either. As she didn't want to be too hungry before her Mom came over. So she checked her cupboard for whatever would soothe her cravings. Giving it a good once over as she thought of what she wanted. Debating a few seconds before grabbing her some pumpkin spice cookies. Closing the cupboard, she went into the living room. Plopping down on the couch quickly snatching up the remote from the spot next to her. Turning on the T.V. to the news. Hoping to find out what the weather was going to be like. Before the commercial was over, she heard her phone ringing from her in her bedroom. Inwardly groaning at how she had forgotten to grab it. Getting up, she set the cookies on the spot next to her. Then she practically sprinted into her room. Picked up her phone from the dresser. Raising an eyebrow at the name, it was her Mother. When she slid her finger over the green phone. Before she could speak, her Mom asked,"Pumpkin, have you watched the news yet?"

"No, I just got the T.V turned on when you called me.",she answered. Noting that her Mom's voice sounded nervous and urgent. The only other time she sounded like this was before they left her Father. Frowning, she asked,"Why? What happened?"

Her Mom stayed silent for a few moments. Making anxiety twist in her guts as she repeated her question as she stared at her phone. A moment later, her Mom answered,"Nancy is on the news. Her...her house burned down, Pumpkin."

"Was she-was she inside?!",Maggie questioned. Her voice going a few octaves higher as she hurried back to her living room. The report was still going on about what had happened. Not saying anything about Nancy at all. They were talking about how it had started. As well as some of what happened beforehand. Looking down at her phone, she asked,"Mom? The Hell happened?!"

"Sh-she came to me a couple of weeks ago...she said she saw your Father in her nightmares.",her Mom muttered. Not even listening to her daughter as she continued to tell her about what happened. How Nancy had claimed that her Father was out to get her. Or something that looked like her Father was coming to get her. Maggie's eyes widened as her Mom continued,"She said he...she said he was going to kill her..."

"And then he was coming for us..."