Ariana woke up to the sound of her mother's heart wrenching sobs. Again. She closed her eyes, willing it to all go away. As the cries subsided, Ariana's heartbeat also slowed down. Tears streaking down her face, she quietly unlatched the window before easing out through it.
Ariana slid down against the side of her house and shivered through her thin cotton nightgown. Her thigh was pressed against the sleety sidewalk and her arm grazing the frosty steps. She liked the feeling; being numb. Ariana took a deep breath and looked up at the seemingly happy surroundings; Christmas lights everywhere, happy couples strolling around the neighborhood without a single worry.
"Why had it happened? They had been so happy…" Ariana thought, reminiscing all the happy times her family had spent together. She remembered her father's strong arms wrapping her mother and her in a tight hug and rocking them back and forth. She remembered them laughing together during one of their weekly Friday night scrabble games. The recollection then flashed to her parents the day before, screaming at each other. Her father had laughed spitefully, as her mother ripped the divorce papers into shreds, tears streaming down her face. And then her mother had threatened to kill herself, her face contorted into an ugly and unfamiliar look of desperation. "No!" Ariana gasped at the memory, her nails digging into her thighs.
She curled into a tight ball, squeezing her eyes closed. Suddenly she heard a crash and hurled herself back through the open window. A sharp edge of the window had cut into her shoulder, but Ariana ignored it. It didn't matter. None of it mattered. She shoved open her door, unsteadily running across the hallway to her mother's room. The door was locked. "Mother!" Ariana cried, "Are you all right? Open the door, Mother!"
At the sound of the Ariana's loud cries, the housekeeper, Mary came downstairs from her room. "Can you not keep it down a little?" She asked grouchily, rubbing her eyes.
"It's Mother!" Ariana cried again, beginning to hyperventilate. "Mother-mother-mother-mother", she panted, "something happened! I heard a crash, and she's not answering!"
The housekeeper's eyes widened and she scurried off in search for the door key. Ariana's eyes were wild as she repeatedly slammed her fists into the door, and by the time the housekeeper had returned with a key, her knuckles were dripping with blood. As Mary turned the key in the lock, Ariana flung herself inside the room, and was horrified at the sight awaiting her.
Her Mother; sprawled across the carpet, the Vicodin bottle tipped over, pills spilling out. Her face was a sickly pale, pupils dilated and lips slightly parted. "Call an ambulance, Mary! Call-now-now-now…" Ariana screamed, kneeling over her mother and shaking her. "Mother! Mother! Wake up!"