"… and they all lived happily ever after. The end." The woman said with a smile. The little girl next to her smiled and giggled.
"Again mommy, again!" the little girl said.
"Maybe tomorrow sweetie," the mother said, smiling down at her child "but its bedtime now."
"Okay mommy" the little girl said, sliding beneath her covers.
"Goodnight sweetie" the woman said, kissing her child's forehead.
"Goodnight mommy" the child replied, slowly drifting off to sleep. The woman turned off the light and stood in the doorway for a while, watching her child. She smiled and closed the door.
That were the last words my mother spoke to me. She disappeared that night. No one knew why. It's like she just vanished into thin air. The police eventually gave up on the case, they said it was unsolvable.
My father was devastated. He would lock himself in his room for hours and cry. He shut himself away from the world; he shut himself away from me. Our house keeper, Martha, looked after me. She was an old, African-British woman with soft, hazel eyes and a sweet smile. Martha was almost like my mother. Almost…
One day, my father never came out of his room. We kept knocking but he would come out. This worried me. We found the key to his room and quickly unlocked the door. The room was empty except for a note lying on the bed. I sank to my knees as I read. My father was gone. He left me. He said he couldn't take the pain. He could no longer be a good father. Martha sat next to me and wrapped me in her arms, stroked my hair as tears streamed down my cheeks.
"It's okay baby, its okay." Martha said, trying to calm me.
All I could do was cry. Martha stayed with me till I couldn't cry anymore. She led me to my room and told me to get some sleep. Even in the warmth of my own bed, I felt cold and alone.
Weeks past, and my life slowly went back to normal; but little did I know what was to come…