A Rogue's Tale

When I was Normal: Part 2

She was all of five years old at the time and her mother was on one of her many business trips. The butterfly necklace had been her priced possession. So much so that she wanted to sleep with it on.

"But Aunt Re, I promised ah'd never take it off," she said, as she was getting into bed.

"Who did you promise?" her Aunt Irene asked.

"The boy..." little Anna Marie said. "The boy that gave it to me."

"Anna Marie, that was just a dream, honey. Don't you remember we got this out of a twenty-five cent machine on our last trip to the grocery store."

"No, no, it was from the boy who rescued me from the bad man. I remember."

"No, honey, that was just a nightmare," Irene said, soothing the girl who was obviously upset. "Now, let's take this off and put it in your jewelry box." She unclasped the necklace and put it in the small box on Anna Marie's nightstand.

Once Irene left her room, she put the necklace back on and drifted off to sleep.

The memory seemed like a dream more than an actual memory. Was she ever that young and innocent? If she had been that was no longer the case now. She drifted in and out of sleep as she leaned her head against the window. Another memory surfaced. It was something she hadn't thought about since she was a child.

Anna Marie was no more than five years old. She was playing in the park playground as her mother and Aunt Irene were diligently watching. "Watch me, Momma. Watch me, Auntie Re."

They both waved to her as she pushed herself down the slide. Her two-toned hair was in pig tails with a few white strands coming loose. The sun was out on this bright summer day, and there was a slight breeze. She giggled as she reached the bottom. Her mother and aunt clapped, praising her efforts.

No sooner had she rose to her feet was she off again. Little Anna Marie loved the slide. It was her favorite thing in the entire playground. She loved climbing the many steps, getting higher and higher, then plummeting down to the ground feeling the rush of the wind brush against her skin and through her hair.

She continued to play as she saw her mother leave her spot on the bench. There was an ice cream vendor nearby. The thought of an ice cream cone made Anna Marie's mouth water. She was about to run over towards her mother when she saw her talking to some man. Her mother looked upset which frightened her, so she raced over to where her aunt was sitting.

"Auntie Re," Anna Marie called out her pet name, because she was unable to say it properly. "Why Momma look so mad?"

"Sweetie, she's not mad," Irene said. "She's just talking to an old friend of hers." Anna Marie looked skeptical. Friends don't look like that when talking to each other. She saw the man disappear and her mother came walking back towards them.

"Irene," Anna's mother said as she stopped in front of her. "Take Anna Marie home. I have a little business to take care of."

"Sure," Irene said, and she knelt down taking the little girl's hand. "Time to go home, sweetie."

"But ah want ice cream," Anna Marie whined, swiping her hand away from Irene.

"We'll get some on the way home, okay," Irene said, taking her hand. Anna Marie perked up at the promise of a tasty snack. Their home was only a ten-minute walk from the park, seeing as Irene was blind and couldn't drive. They stopped by the vendor, and Irene bought Anna Marie a chocolate dripped cone, while getting herself a plain vanilla.

Anna had pretty much devoured the ice cream by the time they reached home, and there were a few remnants of it on her face and hands. "Go wash up, Sweetie, while I go start dinner.

"Okay, Auntie Re," she said as she bolted upstairs. Anna Marie haphazardly washed her hands and face and ran downstairs to turn on the television. She turned the channels on the remote until she found some cartoons.

Her crayons and coloring book were on the coffee table along with her sketch pad and pencils. She picked up the blank pad that she used for her own drawings and dragged the pencil along the paper. She remembered the man her mother was speaking to before her abrupt departure. The man's image was embedded into her brain. Her hands took over as she drew the image of that man with the scary eyes. When she was done, she quickly turned the page. There lay a picture of the boy from her dreams. He looked like any ordinary boy, but for some reason she used her red crayon to color in his eyes. The red marks she drew made him stand out among the hues of grey her drawing pencil made. Those eyes should have scared her, but for some reason she found them comforting.

She dreamed of him almost every night, but he never said a word. She would call out to him in her dream, but he would always be just out of her reach. Running through a dark alley or through some door, and when she finally reached it, he would be gone. The feeling of being all alone in a dark place frightened her. She didn't know why she dreamed of him and sometimes the dreams scared her, but she didn't want them to stop. One day she knew she would catch up to him and find out what it was he truly wanted.

To Be Continued...

The Flashbacks continue in the next part as we find out who the mysterious man Anna Marie's mother was talking to.