Her Last Winter

Your character is 6 years old, 3'9" tall, with liquid blue eyes and platinum blonde hair. She is modest and naive but can be jealous and thinks she is scared of nothing - Emily Hunter

A church is the location, fear and weakness is the theme. A delivery van is an object that plays a part in the story. A soft toy is another object that plays a part in the story - plot idea

Something insignificant mentioned at the beginning turns out to be vital.

The hero turns out to be related to the villain.

It was Sunday morning, the sun half way up in the sky, when Emily Hunter and her mother were just getting ready to go to church.

Emily put on her silken white dress, flowers scattering across her collar and chest, and the shoulders all laced up. The dress flowed down a little ways past her calves, ending with a spring of platinum curls from her head.

She went over to her small pink bed to grab her favourite teddy, a white bunny with the purple ribbon laced around its neck. She had gotten it when she was born 6 years ago from today, and had never left the house without it. It was smaller now because she grew, it fit into both her arms, just about 1 foot and a half that she couldnt hold.

Her mother called out to her to get in the car, and bring a little snack. So Emily quickly ran down the stairs to the kitchen and took a box of pudding cubes off the counter, stuffing them into her little satchel hanging off her left shoulder.

She spotted the house and car keys and took them off the table; Her mom would need those if she wanted to get to church on time, then walked to the hanger by the door and pulled off her thick winter coat.

She stepped into the frosted air outside and hurriedly locked the front door then ran to her mother's car, jumping into the backseat and buckling up. Her mother backed out of the parking space once she received the keys from her daughter, and headed for the community church.

When they reached the church, Emily walked off to find her classroom while her mother talked to a guy in a delivery van, who was dropping off the catering; She kept looking from left to right as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a hundred pound note, handing it over to the man.

Emily's mother caught up to her after, leading her through the wide glass entrance doors of the church, and up the stairs, towards the hall on their left. The teacher stood in front of the doorway, awaiting the little boys and girls to join her class.

Emily bid her mother farewell before running off into her class and sitting in a red plastic chair sat around a plain round table with six chairs, taken by 5 other kids.

The teacher went in and closed the door behind her, starting the class.

* * *

Once it was time for the children to go, every childs parent came, but Emily still had yet to see her mother so she could leave. She sat there for over an hour and her mother hadn't turned up yet. the teacher was worried for her, trying to reassure her that her mother'd be back soon.

After about 12 minutes, the teacher decided to take the girl down to the foyer and wait for her mother down there. So she locked up the room with Emily beside her and walked down the stairs. Emily sat patiently in a wooden chair while the teacher left to put the keys in her office, when she saw it. Her favourite bunny was outside in the middle of the road. There were no cars driving about outside and the teacher wouldnt be back for another few moments, so she could make it just in time before the teacher noticed she was gone.

She shoved open the doors and ran as fast as her small legs could take her, and reached out for her bunny once she got to the side walk.

The teacher walked back out of her office and saw that Emily was not there anymore. she called her name, searched over counters, and opened up doors, then she saw the glass doors were open. She took a peak and called out for Emily once more, and spotted her a few feet away from her, on the side walk. she yelled at Emily to get back from the road but She just ran off onto the road towards her bunny.

The teacher ran after her when she noticed the delivery van from this morning, driving the girls way. Emily finally reached the bunny and held it close, and the van came at an alarming pace.

The teacher couldnt make it in time, and soon the little girl that used to be so happy, warm, and bright, was pale; lifeless. Her silken white dress was now covered in crimson, a red so bright on white, her hair clung to her head and the bunny was flat against the road, its stuffing all over the place. Red was coming from every part of her body and didnt stop running overtop the pavement. The teacher screamed, so scared for the girls life, forgetting to call the ambulence and police department, letting the girl quickly slip away.

The driver of the delivery van kept driving off, and parked off the side of an abandond warehouse. As quickly as she could, Emilys mother climbed into the drivers seat of her car that was waiting there as her getaway vehicle.

Driving through the falling snow, her hands tainted by her own childs blood spread along the pavement outside their church, she never went back, and was never to be seen again.