The large village stood dark and abandoned; no Christmas shopper or caroler walked the streets. The fresh blanket of snow finished the town's image as the perfect mountain getaway. Cars were parked in the driveways, leaving the main street deserted.
The light trees in the windows of the houses cast brilliant colors onto the surrounding sidewalks. Everyone was asleep, children dozing peacefully at the thought of Christmas presents. Except one little girl.
Two cars parked in the driveway of one of the larger homes, with a single lantern blazed outside the home. The light kept a vigil over the street, waiting for the inevitable.
Inside the house sat a little girl, waiting in the hallway outside a private bedroom. Quiet whispers could be heard within the room, but the girl did not listen. She unconsciously fiddled with her doll, combing her fingers through the black yarn of the doll's hair. The child, dressed in her finest dress, waited anxiously to be allowed in the room. She wished it would be over soon, if just to see the third person in the room.
Kaila thought of how lonely she was, and how lonely she will be for the rest of her life. She longed to see her mother, to see the happy grin spread across her mother's face just seeing her daughter laugh and giggle. The small things would be missed the most; the long hours walking and hiking the nearby lake, naps by the fireside. Her thoughts travelled to the trip they had been planning for the summer. They would be visiting the seaside, where they would gorge on cotton candy and frozen bananas and shop till they dropped.
That was all tangible until a few months ago, when doctors told her that her mother had contracted a brain tumor. At first Kaila didn't worry, she just assumed things would go back to normal. But they didn't, not even close. Her mother would spend all her time in chemo, if not days at a rehabilitation center.
Her soft hair fell out slowly, the healthy glow of her cheeks faded to something short of a death mask. The doctors were worried; the disease was spreading much quicker than they anticipated. By August, the cancer had infected her brain so thoroughly her mother was incapable of walking Kaila to the bus on her first day of kindergarten.
For a child of five, this was the worst Christmas present she could have hoped for. Since Thanksgiving the doctor and several nurses had been checking in on her mother's condition around the clock. A permanent sitter was hired by the doctor for Kaila, as Kaila and her mother lived alone. Her mother's inheritance had made Kaila's life rather cushy, but the last of the fortune had been spent on her mother's costly treatments.
By the time the whispers stopped behind the door to the room, nearly all the yarn had been pulled off the doll. Footsteps approached the door, and a tall man with spectacles opened the door. The face was almost expressionless, except for the soft sadness behind his eyes. Kaila immediately felt wetness in her eyes as she sat up and walked inside the room.
A blazing fire roared in the far left corner, giving the room its only source of light. The doctor stood beside the ornately carved bed, her mother's lawyer and long-time friend stood on the other side.
In the bed lay Kaila's mother, the only sign of life was the sheets rising and falling with every weak breath. Tears fell effortlessly off of Kaila's cheeks. To see her strong, proud mother be reduced to a living skeleton had been gnawing at the back of her conscious for the past few months, but never had Kaila seen her mother so close to death.
Ever so slowly, Kaila approached her mother's side, scared to see what the loving face had become. Her mother was deathly pale. The last minutes of her life seemed to have come.
Kaila's vision was blurred from the torrential downpour of tears falling from her face. She snaked her small hand down to her mother's, shivering at the touch of cold, almost lifeless skin. Kaila was smart; she knew the moment was close. It haunted the room with greedy fingers, itching to take Kaila's mother from her. She squeezed her hand, holding on to the last seconds of her mother's life.
Her chest rose once, shuddered for a moment, and then moved no more. The doctor held back his own tears as he checked her pulse and recorded the time of death.
Rachel Harrington died Christmas Eve, 1985
Kaila Harrington was lead out of the room, the doctor and the lawyer already discussing plans for Kaila's future. She felt so utterly lost, such a painful loss for the small girl. The trio left the house, with all of Kaila's belongings in the back of the lawyer's Subaru. She would never see the comfortable log home again… nor would she feel her mother's heartfelt hugs.
An ambulance pulled up to the home. Kaila's shell shocked mind just went with the flow, barely noticing the cloth-covered body the paramedics loaded into the back of the ambulance. The lawyer and the doctor parted ways as the ambulance drove away, no lights or siren wailing.
Kaila curled up in her car seat, clutching desperately to her doll and sobbed her heart out.
Outside the home, the lantern's candle blew out.
She felt utterly alone.
So the first of a small fic, I'm not sure how long, but we'll see where the story will go, now, won't we?
I'd appreciate reviews! Thanks
