Gifts From Death

Mia

7:00, 7:01, 7:02...it was perpetual. Mia Bather sat on her bed counting the minutes. Nothing had happened for three days. School had been canceled due to snow. Even though Mia was out, her parent still went to work, so Mia was left at home with nothing to do. The computer broke the other day and the television had been sold in order to pay taxes.

The Bathers were considered in poverty. Mia's mother, Francesca, did not work because she was a high school dropout (specifically ninth grade) and had no job, and her father worked in the compliance department in a financial company along with, at night, a Sam's Club cashier. They barely scraped by just making minimum wage. Most of the Bathers' assets were neither, in any form of, good nor able to be presented in front of public. They were not pristine in any way, shape, or form.

So on this day off of school, Mia, literally, had nothing to do. No books, no TV, no anything. So, she sat on her bed watching the ticking clock which, at the moment, was the only thing that could "satisfy" her boredom. Until now.

DING DONG! Mia perked up. Nothing had happened and now, suddenly, someone had rung the doorbell? She slowly approached the door, trying to make as little noise as possible. She peeked through the eye hole. Mia jumped. There was no one there. What? How? She swore she just heard the doorbell ring! Great! She thought it might have been an idiotic "ding-dong-ditcher." Great! she thought. Another thing I have to worry about today!

She opened the door, less cautious than before and almost fainted! A small-sized black gift with a black ribbon sat quietly on the porch. Still kind of woozy, Mia trembled as she picked up the gift. She brought it inside but was too eager to open it upstairs. So she knelt down and took off the ribbon, careful not to rip it, and lifted off the lid. Then, gravity took over and Mia's jaw dropped so low it almost touched her chest. She glared at the object inside the box. It sat there like it was so innocent. Mia backed away and turned her head and tried to forget what she saw in the box. A silver handgun.