LilyBilly here! I'm indulging myself. This is an idea I've had for ages, and it's not leaving, only becoming more developed. So I wrote it out, and it took on a life of its own. Thank you to Archy for betaing. Bookverse, not ending up with anyone from the Fellowship, I'll try to make this as little Mary-Sue like as possible. I did lose my copy of The Fellowship of the Ring, though, so tell me if I make a mistake somewhere.
Disclaimer: Not mine, am making no money off of this, this world was created by Tolkien and is now owned by his estate.
It really did start off as a normal day. Well, a normal and rainy day. But who doesn't love the rain? My daughter and I do. So it was a better-than-normal day. But, as I had learned many times before, the most normal of days can have the most abnormal happenings.
"Sophie," I called out, hoping that my daughter would pop out of one of the many random places that the almost-five-year-old could get to.
"Mommy? Dinner done?" she asked, running from behind the doorway and into my legs. I bent down, scooping her up and cuddling her.
"Soon, baby. We're having steak tonight, what would you like with it? Bread, or some corn, or potato wedges?"
Sophie scrunched her nose, thinking. "All three, mommy!" She looked at me beseechingly. "Pwease?" How could I say no to that face?
"All right. Go on into the front room and play with your toys while I get everything ready." I put Sophie down and watched her run off before getting to work on fixing our dinner.
Forty-five minutes later, I fixed our plates and called Sophie back into the room. Thunder rolled overhead as we ate, but instead of dampening our mood, it only made us that much happier.
I watched as my daughter began to move around slightly, trying not to be obvious as she looked out the window. After a couple more minutes of her playing with the remains of her food, she looked up at me expectantly. I cocked an eyebrow down at her.
"Yes? Would you like more?"
She shook her head, glancing out the window. I played along, pretending to not know what it was she wanted.
"What would you like, then?"
She smiled up at me, and said very politely, "May I please play in the rain? I ate all my food! Pwease, mommy?"
I tapped a finger against my chin, mock-frowning in thought. "Hm. You did eat most of your food, and you have been very good." I paused, smiling brightly at Sophie's eager face. "I suppose you can." She jumped out of her chair, but I quickly stopped her from running off immediately. "But, you'll have to take a warm bath and then go straight to bed after, promise?"
"I do, mommy! Go now, please?" She stayed by her chair, clearly reigning herself in from sprinting outside and into the wonderful downpour.
I stood and nodded at her, following behind as she raced ahead, eager to get outside. I paused at the door, pulling off my boots and socks. I kept an eye on Sophie through the open door, hoping there wouldn't be any trouble before I got outside to be with her.
She turned and shot a wide grin at me, gesturing with her hand and yelling for me to "come on". I obliged her request, running out the door and dashing to my sopping wet daughter. I picked her up and twirled her around, her shrieks of laughter making me laugh along with her. My hair was matted, and tangled, a dark brown in the twilight and rain. I put Sophie down, wishing I had a camera to capture the moment.
Moments like these were growing to be so rare; I never wanted this moment to end. Thunder rolled, lighting lit up the sky, highlighting Sophie's bright red curls. I fell to the ground, stretching out and letting the rain fall down on my body as I closed my eyes and let my thoughts wonder and listened closely for any out-of-place sounds.
Two months until Sophie's fifth birthday, one month until my twenty-first. It seemed strange that so much had happened since I was sixteen. Giving birth to Sophie barely a month after my sixteenth birthday, graduating high school with a toddler, having a career, losing family members, gaining people I don't know what I would do without. It all seemed so surreal, but so wonderful.
Smiling dryly, it occurred to me that if someone told me ten years ago that I, Rebecca Lee Hunt, the bookworm of the 6th grade, would have a daughter, a fashion line, and a life outside of my daydreams and books, I would have told them they needed to be checked into an insane asylum.
I watched as the fading sky continued to be lit up with lightening, listened to my daughter and the thunder.
The stars came out, the moon made her appearance, and I decided it was probably nearing 8:30, thus it was time for Sophie to come inside for her bath and then bed.
"Sophie, it's time to go inside now," I called out. Sophie pouted, but ran to me obediently. I picked her up and carried her into the house. I walked up the stairs and into the bathroom, turning on the water. Putting Sophie down, I checked temperature of water, putting the stopper over the drain so it could fill up.
"Get out of your clothes, and I'll go get your pajamas and your favorite towel, okay? But don't go into the tub yet, wait for me to come back."
Sophie nodded and began pulling her clothes off. I kissed the top of her head as I walked out and down the hallway to her bedroom.
"Damn," I muttered. I couldn't find any of her pajamas, or her towel. I walked back to the bathroom and turned off the water before it could overflow.
"I have to go downstairs to get your clean jammies. Can you be a big girl and start your bath by yourself?" I asked Sophie, kneeling to her level.
She nodded vigorously. "Yes, mommy! I'm a big girl!"
I laughed and helped her into the tub, making sure her bath toys were there to keep her occupied while I made a quick trip downstairs to the laundry room.
As I was ruffling through the clothes that were still in the dryer, I heard an extra loud crack of combined thunder and lightening, and my house seemed to shake on the foundation. I heard a new sound too, but before I could investigate I heard Sophie scream.
I abandoned the clothes and ran up the stairs, rushing into the bathroom. Everything appeared fine, Sophie was still in the tub, no blood was anywhere in sight, no bruises either.
"Baby, what's wrong? What happened?" I checked her over, but couldn't find anything. She clung to me, burying her face in my chest.
"Was loud and scary and the house shaked and you weren't here!" she exclaimed.
I rubbed her back, calming her. "I'm sorry, sweetie. Mommy's here now, but she has to go downstairs again to get your jammies."
"No go, no go, pwease?" she cried, reverting to her toddler-speak.
I pried her fingers loose of my shirt. "I'll only be a minute. You're a big girl, remember? I'll be back in one minute, not a second longer," I said. I went back downstairs, becoming aware of a strange smell. I turned the corner and staggered back.
My eyes widened in horror as I took in the hallway and living room, up in flames. Fire was rapidly spreading through my house, and my thoughts were quickly turning to panic.
I turned and fled up the stairs, running back to the bathroom. I pulled Sophie out of the tub and to my chest, holding her so tightly and let out a small cry.
"Mommy, what's wrong?" she asked, but I couldn't answer. I ran back down the hallway, only to find black smoke furling and fire near the opening of the staircase. I gasped, clutching Sophie more tightly to me, ignoring her cries of alarm.
I stalled, not knowing what to do, as I watched the fire eat up more of our only exit. My thoughts whirled frantically as I looked on in horror.
"Mommy, mommy, mommy!" Sophie cried, ripping me from my thoughts. I fought down the panic and tried to think clearly. I ran to her room, the only place I could go without getting burned. I looked around, trying to find something, anything. More cracks of thunder and lightning, but now I could hear the crackle of the fire as it raged in the hall.
My eyes rested on the window. That was our only option now, smoke billowed through the doorway, and I could feel the heat, hear the noise the fire made. But could I do it? Sophie, so small, what would a jump do to her?
She tugged at my hair, her eyes, so round and innocent, now filled with terror. I kissed her forehead. I shifted her weight and grabbed a toy bat from the floor. I hit the window, knocking the glass from it.
"I love you, baby. Hold on to me as tightly as you can."
"Mommy?"
I kisses her forehead again. The flames were now licking at the wood inside the room, rapidly approaching us and our only exit. I backed up to the window, made sure Sophie was holding me tightly, her face pressed to my chest, and fell.
I felt the air, I knew I had only seconds before I would hit the ground. I curled my body around my daughter, hearing her scream.
My back hit the hard ground first, and I heard a crack before my body went limp. I looked at Sophie, through a blaze of tears, trying to be strong, even though I knew. I knew that this would be the last time for me.
"Run to Seth's, tell his parents," I said, though I wasn't sure she could hear me well. She could tell something was wrong. Our closest neighbor, Shruti, her husband, and her son, was half a mile down the road, and Sophie wasn't allowed to go there without me.
"Mommy!" she screamed, hugging me. But I couldn't hug back.
The world was fading, but I tried to push it off.
"Go, go now! Don't stop!" I said, trying to sound forceful, but it came out weak, and I knew it.
She nodded but made no move to start running. I looked at her through the haze that was settling on my thoughts.
"I love you," I whispered, as my head fell back to the ground and my world went black.
I woke up to a loud noise. I blinked, but couldn't see much. I couldn't see Sophie. Then fire, all around, came into my view. I tried to move, tried to get away, panicking again. But I couldn't.
I smelled the smoke, and I felt the fire. My house was collapsing, falling down, the fire spreading. To me. To where I was laying, not able to move, not able to save myself.
I tried to scream as I felt my flesh melting, but the smell of burnt wood and skin choked me. My skin blistered and charred, giving way to let the fire have access to my muscles and bones. My eyes were stinging, my head was burning, I could feel it, I tried to move, but I couldn't, and I was burning-
Burning, pleading into the empty night, my mouth no longer able to form words, my eyes no longer able to see. I could feel the fire licking over my body, licking and eating. I prayed for oblivion.
Hours, minutes, lifetimes. They all flew past in a flurry of pain and thoughts, until my mind gave in to the black around the edges.