❀2022 Watty Shortlister❀
❀𝗔𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗲́𝗻 𝗲𝗻 𝗘𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗻̃𝗼𝗹❀
Much against his will, River Allen can't drag his gaze away from the new student, seventeen-year-old Dawn Gray Brooks. It isn't that she lives in a ragged, teal dress, and ca...
"Why don't we scoop some of it's soft surface, pretend it's Roquefort? You loved it when I grilled cheese sandwiches."
I say nothing while he keeps talking, "I can read you so many stories tonight, one about a flamingo that lost her way in the jungle and—"
Fuck off. You're not my Dad's voice. You're not him.
Silence envelops the room like the white sheet that wraps around my aching bones, hiding my scars so the world won't know I'm back.
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Time folds. I don't know if it's been hours, days or an eternity. Sometimes I open my eyes and there's sunlight seeping through the blinds. I blink and there's darkness around me. I'm shaking like a leaf. My teeth rattle as I whisper, "I'm sorry, Daddy, please come back. I was confused, but now I know it was you before. Maybe you found a way back to me after all. I'm so afraid. I'm so alone."
I wait, watching, listening, peering into the dark corners of my room, hoping the shadows will morph into my Mom's silhouette. There's nothing, only the headache splitting my skull and my eyes dry from not blinking.
Dad, please.
I sob his name, hoping he'll respond, but the hours tick by, and I'm alone.
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His voice awakens me. He's singing lullabies. There's something wrong in his cadence.
Dad, I need you.
"I'm here, baby bee. Come find me." A shadow of the door opens and Elsie's lake shimmers in the moonlight. I tug my hands free from the restraints and wade into the water. Its cool embrace is refreshing and comforting, but then something tugs at my ankle and won't let go. I go under and can't resurface.
As I sink, the water whispers, "He won't rescue you this time."
But I don't understand what that means.
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