Mood Piece January 24

She screamed at the house whenever she passed by. The kind of scream that promised violence, the kind of scream that mattered. She used to scream silently. But the screams inside only ever seemed to hollow out a larger space for the house to take up in her heart. Now her screams were her own again. It was a small thing, but she was determined to draw that poison out drop by drop if she had to.

As part of writing competition I tried to rewrite some of these shorter thoughts into more coherent stories. Below is the story that came out of that.

“Let’s play hide and seek mommy!” August insisted for what must have been the hundredth time that week. The bouncing five year old had recently learned the game at school and had been evangelizing it ever since.

“Please? It’ll be fun and you can hide first, promise!”

Sarah watched her daughter’s best pleading routine and smiled despite herself. She had hoped to relax with her novel for a little after everything in the office this week. The detective’s partner had just been caught in a lie and she had been aching to know what he was hiding. Still, she had been turning August down all week, and it was probably too cold to have her play outside today anyway.

“Alright alright, you wore me down chiclet.” Sarah said, setting her book on the nightstand. “You start counting and I’ll go find a place to hide.” She gave the girl her most serious look. “No peeking now you hear?” August nodded once and lept toward the bed, burying her face between her arms and the blanket. Her enthusiasm was infectious, Sarah thought, as her daughter began shouting numbers into the comforter.

August could reliably count to twenty these days but had a habit of skipping numbers she didn’t like so Sarah figured she better hurry. Quiet as she could she slipped into the coat closet in the hall and settled down amongst the garments. As hiding places went it was less than inspired but if she covered herself in a coat or two maybe August would be too excited to search very hard. Besides, she wasn’t looking to stay in here all day. She had a date with a book after all, and both of them would need lunch soon.

The sound of counting stopped, and for a moment all Sarah could hear was her own muffled breathing. The moist air felt stifling on her face but she didn’t want to make any noise adjusting. Instead she sat, her legs pulled up to her chest, head resting on her knees. Counting the seconds as the silence dragged on.

A door slammed somewhere in the house and Sarah’s heart began to pound. She was having trouble breathing but was too scared now to take full breaths. She had to be quiet. No matter what she could not make a single sound. Her muscles shaking an eight year old girl pulled her legs tighter against her body and tried not to move.

The sound of heavy work boots thumped in her ears, the clatter of keys being tossed on the table. If the footsteps became muffled then he was in the living room and Sarah would be safe for a few hours at least. She stained her ears for even the smallest sound but her own heartbeat seemed so loud in her head. Sarah clenched her eyes and pretended very hard that she was in one of her stories. Even when those kids were terrified and had no hope of escape some kindly wizard or talking animal would whisk them away to some magical world where they could be strong and brave and loved. That was all this was. Any second now she’d hear a voice and a friend would take her away from this awful place.

She heard footsteps. They were close too, right outside in the hallway. Sarah began to gasp as the sound got closer. She couldn’t make herself small enough, couldn’t sink back far enough into the closet. Her body began shaking as she stifled the screams in her chest. She was trapped here with nowhere to run. The door handle began turning and she began weeping silently. Even then she knew it was best not to make a sound for as long as she could.

“Mommy I found you!” August squealed victoriously.

Sarah blinked rapidly to clear the tears from her eyes, her daughter’s beaming face coming slowly into focus. Sarah couldn’t speak. August couldn’t be there, it didn’t make sense. With a shout the little girl jumped fully into the closet and wrapped her mother in a hug.

“I found you! I found you! Now I’ll hide and you have to find me! That’s how the game works.” August said

“You did, baby girl, you sure did. You’re the best finder that ever hide and seeked.” Sarah found herself smiling despite herself. She wiped her wet cheeks on a hanging jacket and pulled her daughter close. A cool breeze blew in from the front door August had opened in her search. It felt wonderful on Sarah’s face.

“Now it’s your turn mommy!” August said

“How about we take a break for a while chiclet. Mommy’s kinda hungry so I bet you are too. I’ll make you a deal. I’ll make us some lunch and then afterwards we can play some more. Sound like a plan?”

“Can I have macaroni and cheese?” August asked, her eyes growing wide.

“As much as you want. It’s only fair, you did find me after all.”

August scrambled up and began dragging her mother out of the closet, repeating ‘mac and cheese’ in a singsong voice all the way. Sarah smiled, watching her daughter hop and jump her way to the kitchen. For all the world like a little talking rabbit.