My Daughter

It was so simple Amy wondered why she hadn't thought of it months ago. She had always been creative, always drawing or painting or crafting, and when River had broken time she'd had an entire train of drawings. So naturally, as soon as she thought of it, she drew her daughter. For three days she drew, erased, redrew, and finally colored an image that was almost true to life. Almost, because in this drawing, Melody was smiling, and that was something Amy had to imagine because she'd never seen it with her own eyes.

Once it was complete she made copies and plastered the flyers up and down every major street. She had to stop and fill her empty tank twice and by dusk, she was down to her original. She began to take the photo around to homeless. "Have you seen her?"

"No."

"Excuse me, have you seen this girl?

"Shh! The demons are coming."

"Please, if you could just take a moment–"

"Do you have any money?"

"I'm looking for my daughter."

"Hghmg."

In the distance, she heard shots in the sky and lifted her head to see the darkness welcoming in 1970.