I started writing a short story for a friend’s compilation just before the great covid chaos of March 2020 ensued. I started writing in early March and was sick as a dog by mid-March. I never finished that story…until last week. Have a look and tell me what you think!
She stared at the clock willing it to move faster, but it wouldn’t listen. With a deep sigh, she laid her head on her desk and waited. Was it possible for time to actually go slower? What if her attempting to speed up time had actually caused it to trip and mess up? What if she had inadvertently stuck herself in this moment forever? Her junior high existential crisis was cut short by the shrill ringing of the last bell.
Violet jumped out of her seat and yanked her backpack off the chair as she sprinted out of the room straight to her locker. Even before she could start stuffing her unneeded papers into the wall, a familiar voice greeted her from behind the door. “So, how brave are you feeling today?” Violet peaked her head around the locker door and laughed. She could always count on Dannie to find an adventure. She finished arranging her backpack for the walk home, hoisted it on her back and replied, “That depends on what you have in mind. Am I brave enough to steal booze from the neighbor? No, not feeling that today. Maybe this weekend. Am I brave enough to explore a new field and see what’s out there? Everyday, always! So whatcha got?”
Dannie pushed herself off the wall and straightened her denim jacket. She tilted her head and donned a mischievous grin. “I found something yesterday. I want you to see it. But I’m not gonna tell you anything about it. I wanna know what you think.” Violet opened the door that led out of the back side of the school. “Ok, is this a thing? A place? A person?”
“A place,” Dannie replied. Violet stopped walking. “Your house is that way.” As she pointed over Dannie’s shoulder. “What are you doing?”
“Going to your house. My sister is home and she just came in as I was going to school today. I don’t want to deal with that. And you have to tell your parents we are going to go out this afternoon or they will kill you.” Violet shrugged, and resumed walking towards her house. This wasn’t terribly uncommon. Since Dannie’s sister had taken to staying out all night after her husband left her taking their four year old daughter with him, Dannie had been spending a lot more time at her house. Her mom and dad wouldn’t mind.
“So where is this place you are taking me to?”
“It’s behind Harry’s grocery. You go over the tracks, and the house is just around the bend.”
“A house? Oh really?! Do we have permission to go to this house?” Violet quipped. Dannie just grinned. “Trust me. We don’t need it…Betcha can’t beat me home!” And Dannie took off on a dead sprint in the direction of Violet’s house. Violet startled and then screamed after her friend as she ran to catch up. “That’s not fair! You got a head start!”
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By the time the girls had run the mile back to Violet’s house, Violet had almost caught up with Dannie. As they reached the front door, Dannie slowed and put her hands on her knees. Looking up at Violet she said with complete seriousness, “Told you you couldn’t beat me,” then burst out laughing. Violet slapped her friend on the arm and laughed, “You are such a turd,” She grabbed her hand and went inside.
Upon opening the door, a dark and empty house greeted them. “Hello?” Violet called into the house as they slowly crept to the end of the hallway and the light switch. “Dad?… Mom?… Chrissy?…”. All that answered Violet was silence. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears as she reached for the light switch. She had had this dream so many times. The dark hallway. The empty house. The dream had different endings, but they were never good. Dannie stood crouched against the wall squeezing all the blood out of Violet’s hand, but she didn’t notice. Even though it was 3 o’clock in the afternoon, the dining room to her right and the living room in front of her were completely dark. The curtains had been closed and fastened. Peering into the darkness, Violet took in a deep shaky breath and flipped the light switch. From behind the wall came a high pitched scream.
“FOR VALHALLA!!!!!!!”
A five year old girl in ragged pigtails, a table cloth draped around her like a dress, and a plastic Viking helmet sitting crooked on her head jumped into view in front of her as a thin stream of water hit Violet between the eyes. Before she had a chance to process what was happening, Chrissy’s high pitched war cries were punctuated by a guttural roar to her right.
“FOR VALHALLA!!!!,” Violet’s father roared, and they proceeded to drench the two girls in the hallway with water guns. Dannie and Violet squealed and laughed as they ran towards the kitchen where on the table were two water guns waiting for them. The girls grabbed their weapons and attempted to return fire. But they were empty. Violet shook her gun indignantly as her father poked his head around the corner. He raised an eyebrow and said “You didn’t think I load ‘em for you, did ya?” And resumed shooting.
Dannie didn’t miss a beat. She ran to the sink and started filling the gun as fast as she could from the faucet. Violet was right behind her. She grabbed the sprayer and tried to use it to fill the tiny hole as the two Vikings launched their attack. At first they tried to use the guns, but it was futile. They were out matched. In desperation, Dannie started splashing the water from the faucet on the little girl, and Violet turned the sprayer on her dad. He slid to a stop in the kitchen, water dripping from his hair and under his glasses. He looked like he had gotten pushed in a swimming pool. He blinked twice and everyone stopped. “Dad, I’m sorry. I just reacted. I just…”. Her father ran towards Violet, straight past her, and out the back door. What the…
Without warning a blast of water came flying through the back door knocking both of the girls to the floor. Chrissy slipped and fell on the drenched floors of the kitchen as her helmet skittered into the living room. Violet tried to stand up but slipped again. “TONIGHT WE DINE IN HELL!!!” Her father roared as he turned the garden hose on the girls. “YOU FIRST!” Violet retorted through fits of laughter as she held herself up to the counter and resumed her attack. Chrissy retrieved her hat. Dannie had filled her gun, and the battle was on.
“Jerry? Why is there water in the hallwa…OH MY GOD. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? EVERYTHING IS SOAKED?” Violet’s mother stood at the entrance to the living room in her scrubs holding a bag of groceries with her jaw on the floor. She looked from Dannie and Chrissy frozen while wrestling on the floor in two inches of water for control of a water gun, to Violet standing at the kitchen sink, sprayer in hand, then to her husband, Jerry, standing in the back door holding a running water hose. Chrissy grabbed the gun and threw it behind her as she and Dannie sat up and studiously examined the pattern in the linoleum. Violet carefully put the sprayer in its place, and offered her mom a weak grin. Jerry’s mustache twisted into a half smile. Somehow he seemed a few inches shorter than he had just moments before. He shrugged sheepishly and said “You told me to have the kids mop the floor when they got home. I think we got it pretty good.”
Beverly’s eyes widened as she once again looked over the water apocalypse that was her home. Jerry raised his hands and let out a chuckle. Her shoulders dropped as she pinched the bridge of her nose. She shook her head and started laughing. “Well, I did say the floors needed to be cleaned. BUT IT DOESN’T NEED TO BE FLOODED. Go on. Get to it. Finish the job you started. Clean this up!” She sat the bag of groceries on the couch as the dripping wet children surrounded her talking all at once.
“All of you shush. I don’t care who started it. In fact I know who started it,” as she shot her husband an accusatory glance, “you are ALL going to clean it up!” Jerry walked past his wife, giving her a kiss on the cheek and continuing down the hallway. “Where do you think you’re going?!” Beverly shot at him. Jerry glanced over his shoulder with a smirk. “I’m gonna go get the towels.”
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Violet and Dannie stood in the laundry room switching the towels from the washer to the dryer. “So I think it might be better if we ask your dad if we can go riding,” Dannie giggled. Violet had completely forgotten their plans to go exploring that afternoon with the battle and the aftermath. The girls walked up to Jerry as he sat watching TV in his rocking chair. “Alright Mr. Morgan! Last of the towels are in the dryer. Ya think we can go ride our bikes?” He glanced away from the tv and nodded, “Sure, go ahead! Just be back before the streetlights come on. Be safe!” The girls were already out the front door. They had at most two hours before their time was up.
Violet and Dannie grabbed bikes out of the garage, and set off towards the main road across town towards Harry’s grocery and the house around the bend. As they passed Harry’s grocery, Dannie slowed down. The trailer where she lived with her sister was across the street. They stopped in front of Dannie’s house. Violet looked at her and asked, “You wanna check in and let her know you’re ok?” Dannie stared at the trailer for a moment then kicked up her kickstand. “Nah, she doesn’t care. Besides, we don’t have time. It’s just over the tracks. We can check in on the way home.”
They continued up the road, over the tracks and around the first hard turn to the left. It didn’t take more than five minutes from Dannie’s house. Dannie pulled off to the side of the road. “We’re here!” she announced. Violet pulled up next to her, looked at the wall of trees in front of them and back at Dannie. “Are you sure?” Violet poked her head between the thick brush and tried looking at different angles to see the house, but all she saw was what could have been a road at one time, maybe, and more trees. Dannie’s eyes twinkled with excitement. “Oh, I’m sure. I don’t even know how I found it, but I noticed the road. We can get our bikes through here,” Dannie seemed to push her bike into the trees and just disappear.
The trees and brush were thick around them but where the road once was, the brush was clear on the bottom and gave them just enough space to squeeze through the opening. The road was overgrown. It had been paved at one time with shells and sand, but nature had long ago started its march towards reclaiming the land. Old oak trees mixed with yaupon bordered both sides of the old road obscuring the view and blocking out all of the noise from the city just beyond the bend. Violet still didn’t see the house. At the end of the shell road, Dannie ducked under some low lying brush and in front of them was the remains of what had at one time been a small modest home. It loomed over them lifted on cinder blocks with the door agape. There were open holes in the wood of the porch, and the paint had long since faded. Broken windows highlighted ancient scorch marks up the sides of the walls.
An unseasonably cool breeze passed through the trees as Violet stared uncertainly at the house. Dannie ran up the steps, shouting back at her friend. “Isn’t it awesome?! Be careful on the porch, but it’s ok inside. Come on! You gotta see!” and she disappeared into the house. Violet shivered in the breeze, and as she walked up the rotting stairs, she couldn’t help but feel like the house was staring back.
Violet closed her eyes and pushed open the door. As she walked into the front room, she saw Dannie peak her head out from the kitchen. “All the dishes are still here! They are older than your Granny’s! And did you see the burnt out mattress over there!! But the best is in the back!” She skittered down the shotgun style hall towards the back of the house. “You gotta see the crib!”
Violet had only made it a few steps into the house when the dizziness hit. Like a tornado in her head, the house seemed to shift. Somewhere in the back of her mind she could hear Dannie talking, but she was getting farther and farther away. The room around her swirled, twisted and contorted. The smell of smoke filled her nostrils. She couldn’t breathe. She stumbled backwards and found herself gripping the window sill of an empty window.
Fresh air. She faced the window and gulped it in. Her eyes flew open at the sound of baying hounds approaching rapidly. With a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, Violet looked toward the trees. Running from the opening to the old shell road were nine rusty red and white dogs. They were almost hairless and resembled dobermans, but they were unlike any dog she had ever seen. They ran in formation: one in front, then two, then three, then two, then one in the back. Violet blinked trying to clear the vision in her eyes. To convince herself the dogs weren’t there. They circled in front of the house, and Violet panicked.
Her mind raced. They had brought their bikes into the yard. No one knew they were here. No one knew this place was here. And we can’t fight nine dogs. She waited for the sound of them running up the steps, but it never came. Only the continuous baying let her know they were still there, now on the other side of the house. She strained to see them out of the windows on the other side of the room. Nothing. She could see nothing. The room had started turning black around the edges. What had been swirling twisted flashes of a dilapidated house filled with twisted metal box springs and junk juxtaposed on a tidy house with a green leather couch and a victrola in the corner, to blinding orange and yellow light had then faded into darkness.
Violet realized she couldn’t hear Dannie anymore. She tried to call out for her only to realize her voice made no sound. It was as empty as the room. The baying of the dogs had reached the back of the house and was coming back towards the front. Where the door was open. Where she couldn’t see them when they came. Frantically she rubbed her eyes and blinked trying anything to bring back her vision.
She let out a futile and silent scream of frustration and fear which was answered by a snickering laugh from the corner of the room. Violet didn’t want to look, but the dogs were getting closer. Maybe it was Dannie? Maybe it was a joke? Violet searched the darkness in the corner and was met by a pair of red eyes. A tall man, easily six foot four, materialized out of the shadows. He seemed to use the darkness to create himself. He wore a bowler hat and a thigh length jacket, and though she could see no features on his face, Violet knew he was smiling.
Her face went numb. A tingling sensation started at the top of her head and pushed down through the center of her body slowly paralyzing her as it descended. It was as if she were drowning in herself. The dogs had reached the door. Through panic and confusion, Violet made the only decision her mind could come up with to save herself. With what was left of her strength and having only the ability to move her body from the waist down, she leaned backwards through the window.
She landed hard on her back, but she was on her feet in seconds. The cool breeze was gone and the late afternoon sun filtered through the trees. Again, the old house loomed above her. For the first time, she realized she heard birds and crickets. The dogs had gone silent. Immediately she ran to her bike, and looked back at the house. Tears filled her eyes, and she called for Dannie to come outside, but got no answer. Violet paced in front of the only escape she knew of, and called again. “DANNIE! WE HAVE TO GO!! PLEASE!!!”
Dannie bounded out of the door and put her hands on her hips defiantly. “You haven’t even seen the best part! We just got here.” Relief washed over Violet’s face, but it didn’t block out the anger. “I’ve seen everything I want to see. Why did you bring me here? Why?! I’m going home.” Violet grabbed her bike and shoved it through the trees. By the time she reached the end of the shell road, she was running, barely able to see the path in front of her as her eyes clouded with tears. As she reached the tree line at the road, she couldn’t find the opening. Twisted yaupon and grape vines made an impenetrable fence between the oaks. A hand clamped onto Violet’s shoulder, and she screamed. Dannie turned her around, concern etched in her face. “Are you ok? What happened? What did you see?” All Violet could coherently muster through the sobs was I want to go home.
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What had seemed to be just a few minutes on the trip out, seemed like a lifetime to Violet as they raced towards Harry’s grocery. Dannie pulled into her overgrown driveway as Violet came to a stop at the street. She looked over her shoulder apprehensively, and though she had stopped crying, her eyes still mirrored the fear that was coursing through her veins. Dannie parked the bike, and called Violet inside. “Come on. I wanna check in, and I feel like you could use a minute and a glass of water.” With one final glance over her shoulder, Violet wheeled her bike into the drive.
Upon entering the house, Violet was overwhelmed by the smell of stale cigarettes and dirty dishes. As they walked into the kitchen, hundreds of tiny roaches scurried to cover from the light. Dannie didn’t seem to notice. She grabbed a glass out of a dingy cupboard and offered Violet a drink. She made sure to look carefully but not obviously into the cup before drinking to make sure it was still just water in the glass. The quick inspection proving satisfactory, Violet plopped herself on an old green vinyl couch and took several deep gulp from the glass.
Danny stood silently watching her. “You wanna tell me what happened out there?”
“You wanna tell me why you took me to that god forsaken place?” Violet shot back.
Dannie sat down next to her friend, put her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands. After a moment she started to explain.
“I was walking to the park after Susie came home one morning still smelling of whiskey. She screamed at me about the house. Said that the least I could do was the dishes seeing as she took me in. I had just had enough, you know? She’s always like that. And I screamed back that I hadn’t eaten in the house in a week, not that I could anyway since there was no food to eat. She threw a lamp at me…So yeah, sorry it’s kinda dark in here… And then she said it was my fault that Bill left. That Bill didn’t want no more kids. And that I’d ruined her life. She told me to get out. So I did. I don’t have my own bike, ya know? So I took off past Harry’s towards the park. I came around the bend, and I heard a couple fighting. It was bad, like real bad. There was a baby crying in the background, and I heard the woman scream. Then nothing.” Dannie dropped her head to her chest. “It was even worse than when Bill was here, and I knew what that was like.”
Violet had turned to face her friend and without thinking had taken her hand. “All I could think about was that baby crying. Were there other kids over there? I mean I’m cool. I’m 13. I can handle it, but not a kid, man. No kid should have to go through that. I was scared, but I had to at least find the address so I could call the cops. I searched up and down the road, but I didn’t see any way past the trees. I was about to give up and I heard a little kids voice, like Chrissy, ya know, call ‘Dannie…’.” Dannie paused and reconsidered her words. “I guess it could have been help me, too. They kinda sound the same at a distance. But I ran towards the voice, and I found the path through the trees, walked down that road just like we did, and found the house. When I first looked at it I could have sworn it was light yellow with a wooden door and a white porch. I smelled smoke but couldn’t see where it was coming from. I looked around for a campfire or something in the woods and when I looked back the house was, well, you saw it. Not yellow and white. Just there. Falling down. And yeah it was burned but there was no way those old scorch marks still smelled. I was probably just imagining things. So I went in and looked around. It’s really cool all the old stuff in there. I wish you would have come look. But that crib in the back, man. That’s when I felt…I dunno what I felt. But I knew I didn’t want to be there anymore, so I booked it to the park. I figured the place was haunted, but I didn’t want you to go in there all spooked. I still don’t know where all that yelling was coming from, but there is DEFINITELY the ghost of a little girl in there. I heard her. I wanted to see if you heard her too.”
Dannie looked up at Violet whose eyes were wide as saucers. “You don’t believe me, do you?” Violet’s voice caught in her throat. Thoughts whirled around in her head as quickly as they had in the house, but the first one that escaped her lips in spite of her trying to figure out what to say was, “so did you go home?!” Dannie raised her eyebrow and wrinkled her nose. “What? No, I didn’t go home! Susie was on a bender and was being a bitch. I slept in the park then I went to school. Then I went to your house. And now we are here. So I lied! Who cares?” Violet’s eyelids hadn’t moved in minutes. You could have stuck toothpicks in them, and it wouldn’t have mattered.
With everything that had happened, the fight that drew Dannie to the house around the bend sounded awfully familiar. She couldn’t help but run through her friend’s recent family problems. How her sister’s husband, Bill, had run out on the family. Not that he was a saint or anything. He was awful, but it was a blow to them all the same. What’s worse he took her niece, Clara, with him when he left. He said that Susie, Dannie’s sister, was an unfit mother, and Dannie was a bad influence. This from a man who drank just as much as Susie and had a habit of breaking things. The fight when he left was horrific. Susie and Bill lobbed threats and fists left and right, but it was the threats about Clara that Dannie had confided in her that started poking at her brain. Why had Susie never gone looking for her daughter? And what happened to Bill?
Softly Violet leaned in and asked, “Dannie, what happened to Bill?” Dannie stood up from the couch and turned on her heel glaring at Violet. “”You already know! He was an asshole. He beat my sister. He beat me, and then he bailed on us. Just up and disappeared. Never to be seen or heard from again. That’s all there is to know.” She threw her hands in the air and stomped towards the window. “And he took Clara.” Violet said. Dannie didn’t turn around, but Violet could see her head drop as she leaned into the window. “Yeah..and he took Clara. Thanks for reminding me. She was the only one who made living her bearable. And god knows what’s happening to her without me there for her.”
“Was he always that way, Dannie?” Violet asked. “Was he always so bad?” “Not at first.” Dannie answered quietly. “He was kinda cool when Mom brought me here. Like that cool uncle. He taught me how to work on my bike. I mean, he threw it in the dump one day while I was at school, but before that he taught me how to work on it. But then he got weird after Mom told them she wasn’t coming back. He was ok with being my uncle, I guess, but he REALLY didn’t want to be my dad.” Dannie turned around raised shoulders and clenched fists, tears running down her face, “You know what! I didn’t want him to be my dad either! I’d rather have my own, but I don’t even know where he is! Like this is all my fault! Like I have a choice! What difference does any of this stupid shit make about the house around the bend?!”
“Because I wonder who the little girl who called you was, Dannie. Why you? You know what nevermind.” Violet stood up and hugged her friend then held her at arm’s length. “Dannie, I believe you about the house. But I’m not sure you are going to believe me.”
The trailer shook slightly as someone walked up the front stairs. The front door flew open, and Dannie’s sister, Susie, stumbled into the house. She was only 28 years old, but she looked forty at least. Her skin had age spots and sagged around her chin. Her tangled blonde hair perfectly complimented her blood shot eyes. Cigarette dangling out of her mouth, she fixated on Dannie and huffed. “Da fuck are you doing here? I told you to get the fuck out. Your bitch ass gonna make me waste my goddamned money on replacing the locks? God,I hate you. Get the fuck out and take miss prissy pants with you.” as Susie gestured drunkenly towards the door. Dannie’s eyes blazed with anger and she said with clenched teeth, “Fine. I thought maybe you would have slept it off and felt better today. I was obviously wrong. I’ll get my things and get the fuck out of your way,” she said mockingly.
Violet felt like she couldn’t breathe. She watched in horror at the two sister’s battle of words. As Dannie stomped towards her bedroom, Violet rushed to follow. Dannie slammed her door, and immediately started packing. There were no tears in her eyes. There was nothing but seething anger. She shoved what few clothes she had in the small suitcase she had come with, looked around the room, and sighed. There really wasn’t much else to take. “Think you could carry the stereo?” she asked Violet with a small laugh as she shoved the old fashioned CD player in her hands. Violet looked down confused and bewildered. “Yeah sure, but where are you going to take it? Do you have any CDs? Do we need to pack those?” “Nah,” Dannie answered, “Susie pawned those for a dollar a piece ages ago. I just use it for the radio. It runs on batteries, so it will be fine wherever I wind up.” Violet nodded, and stood up straight squaring her shoulders trying to look brave.
They both jumped as Susie started pounding on the door. “You little, bitch! You better not try taking anything out of my house you didn’t come in here with. Open the damn door!” Violet looked at Dannie uncertainly, and Dannie just rolled her eyes mouthing silently, “She’s always like this.” Dannie grabbed the door knob, raised an eyebrow in amusement and waited until Susie started pounding on the door. Dannie pulled the door open as fast as she could, and Susie fell face first into the room. “Go!” Dannie whispered.
Violet didn’t need to be told twice. She was down the hallway in an instant, oversized CD player in hand. Behind her she heard Dannie shouting. “Let go of me, you crazy bitch! You said leave. I’m leaving! I’m out! Let go of my damn leg!” Susie, cigarette still hanging out of her mouth, had grabbed Dannie’s leg in the hallway. “You think you are gonna steal my player? Oh hell no you won’t. I will beat both your asses!” Dannie furiously kicked her leg trying to pull away. “It’s not yours, and you know it! Mom gave it to me! It’s all I have left. It’s not worth anything at the pawn shop, and you like your precious records anyway. GOD! Let me go!!!” Dannie had just been trying to get loose. Trying to get away. And one violent kick landed squarely on Susie’s chin. Her head flew back into the door frame of the bathroom cluttered with magazines, paperback books, loose pieces of toilet paper and empty toilet paper rolls. Susie fell limply through the bathroom door.
“Oh shit! I didn’t mean it! I was just trying to get away.” Dannie frantically shook her sister. “Wake up!” Violet dropped the player and ran back down the hallway. She knelt down by Susie and tried to find a pulse. Her mom had shown her years ago, and as a small child it made her giggle to feel the bump bump under her mother’s skin. Susie’s pulse was strong, and she was starting to move a bit. Violet looked up at Dannie, “She’s fine. She just hit her head. Let’s get out of here.” The two girls ran down the hallway lugging Dannie’s few belongings with them
It wasn’t until they were outside and halfway down the drive when in the distance a pack of dogs started howling.. Violet froze in her tracks. Dannie called over her shoulder, “Hurry! She’s gonna wake up! We gotta go!” But Violet felt like she couldn’t breathe. Her heart was caught in her throat. “Dannie?” She croaked. “Was the light on in the bathroom?” The dogs seemed to be getting closer. Dannie clenched her teeth in frustration, “WHO CARES! We gotta go!” Violet looked towards the back of the trailer where one small frosted window shone a flickering orange and yellow light into the setting sun. “What’s that smell?” asked Dannie. Staring at the flicker light in the bathroom, Violet answered in a whisper, “Smoke. That’s smoke.” Her voice raised in pitch and volume, Violet screamed, “FIRE! YOUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE!”
“Susie” Dannie whispered, and both girls ran towards the door. The flames were already rolling down the hallway and had consumed the back half of the house in minutes. Dannie threw open the door only to be met by a blast of heat and the sight of flames rolling across the living room ceiling. As Violet backed away, choking on the smoke, she could have sworn she saw Bill sitting in his rickety plaid rocker, pipe in hand, leaning forward talking with what appeared to be a man dressed all in black. He seemed to be forming out of the smoke. She didn’t notice any of his features, but somehow she knew he was smiling.
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It was 9pm, when the firefighters pulled Susie’s body out of the building. Jerry and Beverly were sitting with Dannie and Violet at the edge of the scene when they came to tell them the news. The firefighters told them Susie appeared to have fallen in the bathroom, hitting her head on the frame, while she was smoking. There was nothing the girls could have done. Trailers that old, cluttered and run down were fires waiting to happen. From what they could tell, and from what the girls had seen when they had opened the door, Susie was already gone before they got there. The entire house took less than 8 minutes to be completely engulfed.
Dannie listened to all of this in silence. Nodding as the tears ran down her soot stained cheeks. Jerry and Beverly knelt in front of her, and Jerry lifted her chin to meet his eyes, “Dannie, you are going to come stay with us for a while until we can work this all out. We’ve already gotten clearance from the police. We are going to work with them to find your family, baby girl. But until then, you are safe with us.” Violet was holding Dannie’s hand so tight it was cutting off circulation, but Dannie didn’t notice. She started trembling, and through muffled tears, Dannie cried, “What if we can’t find them? I can’t remember the last time I spoke to my dad. Like I ACTUALLY can’t remember. I was too young. And I don’t even know where my mom is! She left me here! What if she won’t take me back?!” Years of anguish and pain and fear fell down Dannie’s cheeks into the puddles on the ground. Jerry pulled her into a bear hug, and said “Then you will just stay with us. Look at me. You are welcome in our home for as long as you want to stay. I promise you, and I don’t promise often, no matter what comes next, we will be here for you. All of us.” Violet and Beverly wrapped themselves into the hug. When Dannie pulled back, she smiled weakly and nodded. “Ok. Can we go home?”
Violet and Beverly walked hand in hand back to their parents car parked just up the road past Harry’s grocery, and as they opened the door to get in, somewhere behind them, back by the house around the bend, a small voice carried on the wind, “I love you, Dannie”.
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