I wrote this for a livejournal group. The word for the week was reflection.
A young Elizabeth was playing near the water with her best friend, Mr. Hulhu. True, he had an odd name, but he was a stuffed Cthulhu after all - that was strange enough. Her father had given it to her when she was born, and now there was no way she would let him out of her sight. Seven year old Elizabeth believed that she would take him with her to college.
Her father was an odd person. He was always down in the basement, and whenever she asked Uncle Dan , Uncle Vlad, or her mother what he was doing, they would just say, in general, that he was making models. What kind of models? They would never say. But Elizabeth had promised herself and Mr. Hulhu that they would find out what her father was doing before she died.
Hearing something drop in the water before her, she looked at the ripples. As they cleared, she saw her father standing behind with a handful of stones, his arm held out over her and the water. He gave her a grin as he dropped in another stone, which made a satisfying splash, getting Elizabeth wet. Giggling, she splashed some water on her father's shiny dress shoes.
Ignoring the water, Herbert West handed his daughter a few stones, and began teaching her how to skip rocks. This was a side of Herbert West that only she saw, the side where he was just her daddy, and nothing more. Not the mad scientist, just the father who loved her.