Go Back To Bed
Go Back To Bed
Mary awakes to the sound of dripping water. She doesn’t bother her mind with the question of where it is coming from, all she can think of are her newly installed hardwood floors.
“Mommy, I’m cold.” The little girl cries, standing at the foot of Mary’s bed. The dripping was still there, driving her crazy.
“Grab an extra blanket from the closet and go back to bed sweetie.” Mary says to her daughter. She doesn’t even try to hide the annoyance from her voice. Of course, the girl doesn’t listen to her and makes her way around the bed. As her little feet pitter patter across the floor, Mary can only hear the sound of the water dripping onto her floor, ruining them!
The little girl crawls into the bed and snuggles up next to her mother. Mary doesn’t open her eyes, but she does put her arm around her daughter, reluctantly. She really is cold Mary thinks to herself.
Not for the first time since the birth of her child, she is filled with an overwhelming dread and anger. The doctors told her that the postpartum depression was normal, that it would go away after a little while. Maybe that would be true if her husband hadn’t abandoned her. Now, here she was, four years later and she still couldn’t look at her child without feeling grief and sadness. She felt something new now, as she held her little girl, but she couldn’t quite figure out what it was. Was it guilt? Why would she feel guilty? Suddenly, as she gains full consciousness, a memory buried deep, resurfaces in her mind.
It was a cold night, she remembered the hypothermia setting in as the police officer wrapped a blanket around her soaking body. She remembered the sadness in the officers eyes when he told her that they found her daughter still in her car seat, strapped in the van. She didn’t remember driving into the freezing lake, but she did remember telling her little girl to stay calm and stay in her seat as she climbed out of the sinking van. As all of this comes back to her, she becomes fully aware of the cold, wet child she was holding in her arms.
“Sweetie?” she whispers with a shaking voice. The apparition begins to turn, her wet hair wrapping itself around Mary’s arm. When she is fully facing Mary, she opens her eyes. They are pure white and water is leaking from them, pouring down her face. She opens her mouth and let’s out a flood. she then makes a gurgling noise and whispers, “Why did you leave me mommy?”
Mary is frozen with fear. Her body shakes involuntarily from the cold, she is now soaked from head to toe. The girl whispers her question again but Mary can’t open her mouth to answer. Suddenly, the water stops flowing from the ghosts mouth. She opens her mouth much wider than should be possible and let’s out a wailing scream.
“WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME MOMMY?! WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME??” She repeats this question over and over as water fills Mary’s lungs. Her vision begins to blur and she feels water leaking out of her ears, muffling all sound. The last thing Mary hears is a giggle from her daughter.
“Now mommy will never leave me.”