THE NEXT DAY.....
Bella sat in her living room recliner, the Prichard Press spread out across her lap. A portable compact disc player sat on the arm rest, the headphones resting on both sides of her bulging stomache, playing the De Vozweit Quartet, one of the greatest (and only) Pertennist muscicians around. At least it's better than the garbage the kids nowadays are listening to, she thougth to herself. She was a firm believer in musical therapy. That is, she knew that music was a wonderful way to stimulate the unborn child's growth, as well as intelligence.
As soon as she glanced at the headline on the front page, she gasped, knocking the player off the arm rest.
MASS MURDER AT LOCAL DOCTOR'S OFFICE-ONE DOZEN SLAIN
Heart pounding, she began reading the full-paged article as she reached down to pick up the player.
On Tuesday Morning at approximately 9:10 AM, police say a dozen locals were brutally murdered in Gentle Care doctor's office on the corner of Breton and 52nd.
"Oh my God," Bella whispered, her hands shaking violently. Her own appointment had been at 9:00 AM on Tuesday morning. She continued reading.
Police say someone entered the building between 8:55 and 9:15 AM, and shot a dozen people inside, including Doctor David Hamilton, aged 61, and Renee Sweiss, former headmaster of Trabia Garden, located in Trabia, Cress. Witnesses noticed a tall, blond haired woman enter the building at approximately 9:15 AM, but were unable to indentify her.
Bella dropped the paper, and jumped up, her hands trembling violently. There had to be some mistake. She was there....she had gone there for a routine checkup yesterday at 9:00 AM. But....but they told her....her appointment was cancelled?
"Yes," Bella declared, now pacing around the room, struggling to hold back an oncoming panic attack that threatened to storm her with the strength of a cresting wave crashing onto the shores of Galbadia. "Yes, they...they told me my appointment was cancelled, and to...to call back some other time to reschedule. And somewhere along the way, I lost my pin."
Something else happened, a voice piped up from somewhere deep inside her.
Her heart skipped a beat as she pushed this thought from her mind, so quickly that it might have been on wheels.
"That's Mesmerize dung!" she yelled, slapping the back of the recliner angrily. "I was there, and they told me to reschedule!"
Are you sure, Bella?
"Shut up!" she yelled, grabbing a pillow from the sofa and tossing it across the room. "Nothing happened! Nothing!"
Why am I getting so angry about this? she asked herself as she slowly lowered herself onto the sofa, holding her head as if suffering a migraine. The paper could have made a mistake. It must have made a mistake. It must have happened after I left, she told herself. Perhaps they meant 9:15 PM. That's it, they simply made a mistake.
But they close at 7, Bella Dear, the voice spoke up again. You've gone totally bonkers, you know that, hon?
She quickly slapped a lid on the voice.
*******************************************************************************************************************
FOUR YEARS LATER
Bella pulled open the door to the Happy Elephant Daycare Center, clutching the strap of her leather purse. The owner, Brenda Fishback, was seated at her desk, sifting through a stack of documents.
"Excuse me," Bella said sheepishly, sticking her head in the doorway.
The dark haired woman looked up, startled. "Hey! Come on in!"
"How was Lydia?" she asked nervously, clutching her leather strap with both hands as she approached the desk.
"Wonderful," she said, removing her reading glasses and placing them in a small green case. "She's a very sweet little girl, Mrs. Vienzweit. She had a lot of fun."
"She's a bit shy," she said, seating herself in the guest chair. "She doesn't warm up to other kids very easily, so I was a little nervous about how she'd get on here."
"Well, she was a bit isolated at the start, but she joined in after awhile. They always do, once they see that daycare isn't this scary, awful place that they make it out to be."
"Mommy!"
Bella turned and rose from her chair as a dark-haired little girl dressed in an Ballerina tutu and pink slippers burst into the room. "You're back!" she cried excitedly, throwing her arms around her mother's waist.
"Did you have funny, sweetie?" Bella asked, hoisting the little girl up into her arms and smoothing her long black hair.
"Uh huh. I'm a ballerina," she said matter of factly.
"And so I see! You going to be a ballerina when you grow up?"
"Uh huh. So's Casey. She's my friend."
"Well, why don't you go say goodbye to your new friends and take off the ballerina costume-it'll be here tommorow, Lydia-and then we got to get going."
"She's so cute," Brenda gushed as she scurried out of the room in her tutu. "An angel."
"Well, I don't know about that," Bella said, smiling.
"How was your first day?" Brenda asked, leaning back in her chair.
"Good," she replied, nodding. She had excepted a full time job as a sales clerk at Lacy's Department Store. While it wasn't much, she was willing to take what ever she could get in order to support Lydia. For she was still single, and day in and day out, she experienced the struggle of daily life as a single parent.
"It's tough being a single parent, isin't it?" Brenda asked, as if she were reading her mind.
"It's a struggle. I get through it one day at a time."
"That's the only way," she said, taking a sip of bottled water. "I would know, I was single when my youngest was born. I nearly had to go on welfare. It was tough. But things always work out in the end," she said smiling reassuringly.
"Okay, mommy," Lydia announced her presence as she re entered the room.
"You ready to go?"
"Uh huh. Mommy, can I have my own tutu?" she asked, pulling on her mother's purse.
"We'll see," she said, pulling her purse out out of the girl's reach. "Well," she said, turning to Brenda, "thanks for everything. We'll see you tommorow."
"You guys have a good day. Bye, Lydie!" she called as Bella left, child in tow.
"Bye, Mrs. Fishback, thanks for the cookies!" the little girl called back happily.
**********************************************************************************************************************
"Mommy?" Lydia asked as they walked down the sidewalk toward home.
"Yeah, hon?"
"Why don't...why don't I have a daddy? All the other kids....all them do."
Bella hoisted her purse strap higher on her shoulder nervously. She knew this question would come, as sure and unstoppable as "where do babies come from?".
"Casey says everyone has a daddy," she said, squinting up through the sunlight at her mother.
Bella felt an internal struggle as she struggled to sort through several different ways to approach this question. She could tell by the look on her daughter's face that any stalling tactics she could muster would be useless. But did Merclaedos expect her to tell her four year old daughter that her father was a despicable human being who abandoned mommy, causing her to stay in bed and refuse food for five days?
"She's right, Lydie. Everyone has a mommy and a daddy. But some kids...some kids don't get to see their daddies."
"How come?"
"It's just the way life works out some times, Lydie."
"Where's my daddy?" the little girl asked, her tiny voice heart-breakingly innocent.
Desperately struggling to avoid her daughter's inquiring brown eyes, Bella quickly fumbled for answers.
"Your daddy left, honey. He left before you were born."
"Why?" she asked, her face scrunched up in curiousity.
"Because he didn't want to help take care of you," she replied honestly, carefully avoiding the words "didn't want you".
"Why not?"
"Sometimes people get scared when they learn they have to be a daddy," she replied, choosing her words with extra caution. "Being a daddy's a lot of work, and some people get scared by that. They don't want the respons-they don't want the job of being a daddy. They think it'll...they think it'll be too hard. That they won't be able to have fun and go out with their friends and do things anymore. But it wasn't right to leave mommy like that. When people make babies, they agree to care for and raise that baby. Some people, like your father, back out."
"That's not very nice," Lydia said thoughtfully. "Where's daddy now, mommy?"
"I don't know, honey. He left and we lost con-we don't talk anymore."
"But it's not fair, I want a daddy!" Lydia protested, kicking a rock on the sidewalk. "Can't you get a new daddy?"
Sure, Lydia, she thought irritably. Get a new daddy. I'd love nothing more than for you to have someone to help me tuck you in at night. To be there in the front row at your preschool graduation. To snap a dozen pictures and warn your date to take care of his little girl as you shoot him a warning look on prom night. I long for it all, Lydia, but to dwell on a longing is to dwell on a dream that will never come to light, a ship that will never come to shore. One can waste away on a longing, on a hope, a dream. No one knows this more than me, Lydie.
"Look at the doggy!" Lydia exclaimed suddenly, barreling down the sidewalk toward a stray Newfoundland.
"Lydia Marie, get back here! Don't touch him!"
It was too late, the child had bent down and was rubbing the dog's neck as he licked her up the side of the face.
"It's alright," a voice said from beside them. Bella turned to see a tall man with chestnut brown hair and a goatee holding a leash. "Bingo's friendly, just disobediant. I've been looking everywhere from him. He's got a new trick where he slips out of his collar everytime he sees a squirrell. I'm babysitting him for the weekend."
"How'd you get roped into that?" Bella asked, smiling.
He laughed as he hooked the leash ontot he dog's collar.
"He's huge!" Lydia exclaimed.
"He's a big guy, ain't he?" he patted the dog on the head and turned to Bella. "You've got a cute kid," he said smiling.
"Thanks. I'm Bella Vienzweit," she said, extending her hand.
"Doug Murray," he said, grasping her hand. "I'm new in town. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise. Come on, Lydie, honey, say goodbye to the doggie, we go to get going, babe!"
"Say, Bella, I was planning on heading down to the Sunset Cafe after I got Fido here home. I'd love it if you and your girl would join me."
Bella sat in her living room recliner, the Prichard Press spread out across her lap. A portable compact disc player sat on the arm rest, the headphones resting on both sides of her bulging stomache, playing the De Vozweit Quartet, one of the greatest (and only) Pertennist muscicians around. At least it's better than the garbage the kids nowadays are listening to, she thougth to herself. She was a firm believer in musical therapy. That is, she knew that music was a wonderful way to stimulate the unborn child's growth, as well as intelligence.
As soon as she glanced at the headline on the front page, she gasped, knocking the player off the arm rest.
MASS MURDER AT LOCAL DOCTOR'S OFFICE-ONE DOZEN SLAIN
Heart pounding, she began reading the full-paged article as she reached down to pick up the player.
On Tuesday Morning at approximately 9:10 AM, police say a dozen locals were brutally murdered in Gentle Care doctor's office on the corner of Breton and 52nd.
"Oh my God," Bella whispered, her hands shaking violently. Her own appointment had been at 9:00 AM on Tuesday morning. She continued reading.
Police say someone entered the building between 8:55 and 9:15 AM, and shot a dozen people inside, including Doctor David Hamilton, aged 61, and Renee Sweiss, former headmaster of Trabia Garden, located in Trabia, Cress. Witnesses noticed a tall, blond haired woman enter the building at approximately 9:15 AM, but were unable to indentify her.
Bella dropped the paper, and jumped up, her hands trembling violently. There had to be some mistake. She was there....she had gone there for a routine checkup yesterday at 9:00 AM. But....but they told her....her appointment was cancelled?
"Yes," Bella declared, now pacing around the room, struggling to hold back an oncoming panic attack that threatened to storm her with the strength of a cresting wave crashing onto the shores of Galbadia. "Yes, they...they told me my appointment was cancelled, and to...to call back some other time to reschedule. And somewhere along the way, I lost my pin."
Something else happened, a voice piped up from somewhere deep inside her.
Her heart skipped a beat as she pushed this thought from her mind, so quickly that it might have been on wheels.
"That's Mesmerize dung!" she yelled, slapping the back of the recliner angrily. "I was there, and they told me to reschedule!"
Are you sure, Bella?
"Shut up!" she yelled, grabbing a pillow from the sofa and tossing it across the room. "Nothing happened! Nothing!"
Why am I getting so angry about this? she asked herself as she slowly lowered herself onto the sofa, holding her head as if suffering a migraine. The paper could have made a mistake. It must have made a mistake. It must have happened after I left, she told herself. Perhaps they meant 9:15 PM. That's it, they simply made a mistake.
But they close at 7, Bella Dear, the voice spoke up again. You've gone totally bonkers, you know that, hon?
She quickly slapped a lid on the voice.
*******************************************************************************************************************
FOUR YEARS LATER
Bella pulled open the door to the Happy Elephant Daycare Center, clutching the strap of her leather purse. The owner, Brenda Fishback, was seated at her desk, sifting through a stack of documents.
"Excuse me," Bella said sheepishly, sticking her head in the doorway.
The dark haired woman looked up, startled. "Hey! Come on in!"
"How was Lydia?" she asked nervously, clutching her leather strap with both hands as she approached the desk.
"Wonderful," she said, removing her reading glasses and placing them in a small green case. "She's a very sweet little girl, Mrs. Vienzweit. She had a lot of fun."
"She's a bit shy," she said, seating herself in the guest chair. "She doesn't warm up to other kids very easily, so I was a little nervous about how she'd get on here."
"Well, she was a bit isolated at the start, but she joined in after awhile. They always do, once they see that daycare isn't this scary, awful place that they make it out to be."
"Mommy!"
Bella turned and rose from her chair as a dark-haired little girl dressed in an Ballerina tutu and pink slippers burst into the room. "You're back!" she cried excitedly, throwing her arms around her mother's waist.
"Did you have funny, sweetie?" Bella asked, hoisting the little girl up into her arms and smoothing her long black hair.
"Uh huh. I'm a ballerina," she said matter of factly.
"And so I see! You going to be a ballerina when you grow up?"
"Uh huh. So's Casey. She's my friend."
"Well, why don't you go say goodbye to your new friends and take off the ballerina costume-it'll be here tommorow, Lydia-and then we got to get going."
"She's so cute," Brenda gushed as she scurried out of the room in her tutu. "An angel."
"Well, I don't know about that," Bella said, smiling.
"How was your first day?" Brenda asked, leaning back in her chair.
"Good," she replied, nodding. She had excepted a full time job as a sales clerk at Lacy's Department Store. While it wasn't much, she was willing to take what ever she could get in order to support Lydia. For she was still single, and day in and day out, she experienced the struggle of daily life as a single parent.
"It's tough being a single parent, isin't it?" Brenda asked, as if she were reading her mind.
"It's a struggle. I get through it one day at a time."
"That's the only way," she said, taking a sip of bottled water. "I would know, I was single when my youngest was born. I nearly had to go on welfare. It was tough. But things always work out in the end," she said smiling reassuringly.
"Okay, mommy," Lydia announced her presence as she re entered the room.
"You ready to go?"
"Uh huh. Mommy, can I have my own tutu?" she asked, pulling on her mother's purse.
"We'll see," she said, pulling her purse out out of the girl's reach. "Well," she said, turning to Brenda, "thanks for everything. We'll see you tommorow."
"You guys have a good day. Bye, Lydie!" she called as Bella left, child in tow.
"Bye, Mrs. Fishback, thanks for the cookies!" the little girl called back happily.
**********************************************************************************************************************
"Mommy?" Lydia asked as they walked down the sidewalk toward home.
"Yeah, hon?"
"Why don't...why don't I have a daddy? All the other kids....all them do."
Bella hoisted her purse strap higher on her shoulder nervously. She knew this question would come, as sure and unstoppable as "where do babies come from?".
"Casey says everyone has a daddy," she said, squinting up through the sunlight at her mother.
Bella felt an internal struggle as she struggled to sort through several different ways to approach this question. She could tell by the look on her daughter's face that any stalling tactics she could muster would be useless. But did Merclaedos expect her to tell her four year old daughter that her father was a despicable human being who abandoned mommy, causing her to stay in bed and refuse food for five days?
"She's right, Lydie. Everyone has a mommy and a daddy. But some kids...some kids don't get to see their daddies."
"How come?"
"It's just the way life works out some times, Lydie."
"Where's my daddy?" the little girl asked, her tiny voice heart-breakingly innocent.
Desperately struggling to avoid her daughter's inquiring brown eyes, Bella quickly fumbled for answers.
"Your daddy left, honey. He left before you were born."
"Why?" she asked, her face scrunched up in curiousity.
"Because he didn't want to help take care of you," she replied honestly, carefully avoiding the words "didn't want you".
"Why not?"
"Sometimes people get scared when they learn they have to be a daddy," she replied, choosing her words with extra caution. "Being a daddy's a lot of work, and some people get scared by that. They don't want the respons-they don't want the job of being a daddy. They think it'll...they think it'll be too hard. That they won't be able to have fun and go out with their friends and do things anymore. But it wasn't right to leave mommy like that. When people make babies, they agree to care for and raise that baby. Some people, like your father, back out."
"That's not very nice," Lydia said thoughtfully. "Where's daddy now, mommy?"
"I don't know, honey. He left and we lost con-we don't talk anymore."
"But it's not fair, I want a daddy!" Lydia protested, kicking a rock on the sidewalk. "Can't you get a new daddy?"
Sure, Lydia, she thought irritably. Get a new daddy. I'd love nothing more than for you to have someone to help me tuck you in at night. To be there in the front row at your preschool graduation. To snap a dozen pictures and warn your date to take care of his little girl as you shoot him a warning look on prom night. I long for it all, Lydia, but to dwell on a longing is to dwell on a dream that will never come to light, a ship that will never come to shore. One can waste away on a longing, on a hope, a dream. No one knows this more than me, Lydie.
"Look at the doggy!" Lydia exclaimed suddenly, barreling down the sidewalk toward a stray Newfoundland.
"Lydia Marie, get back here! Don't touch him!"
It was too late, the child had bent down and was rubbing the dog's neck as he licked her up the side of the face.
"It's alright," a voice said from beside them. Bella turned to see a tall man with chestnut brown hair and a goatee holding a leash. "Bingo's friendly, just disobediant. I've been looking everywhere from him. He's got a new trick where he slips out of his collar everytime he sees a squirrell. I'm babysitting him for the weekend."
"How'd you get roped into that?" Bella asked, smiling.
He laughed as he hooked the leash ontot he dog's collar.
"He's huge!" Lydia exclaimed.
"He's a big guy, ain't he?" he patted the dog on the head and turned to Bella. "You've got a cute kid," he said smiling.
"Thanks. I'm Bella Vienzweit," she said, extending her hand.
"Doug Murray," he said, grasping her hand. "I'm new in town. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise. Come on, Lydie, honey, say goodbye to the doggie, we go to get going, babe!"
"Say, Bella, I was planning on heading down to the Sunset Cafe after I got Fido here home. I'd love it if you and your girl would join me."