Daddy's Home

• Ruvini Kathriarachchi, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2016

Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop. The repetitive fall of soft raindrops against the ice-cold glass of a wide window creates a misleading serene atmosphere. Grey clouds roll and tumble overhead, completely concealing any light and leaving yet another winter afternoon shrouded in darkness. Snow mingles with rain and a little girl huddles in the corner of a small bedroom with her frail arms wrapped around her bare legs as she shivers uncontrollably.

Her breath fogs before her in the empty room, her only companion a chestnut-coloured plush bear resting in her lap. The child takes a deep breath of icy air that stings her lungs and a familiar unpleasant scent pricks her nose. She immediately huffs it out, not wanting to breath in any of the strange herbs her Daddy uses to feel better. The memory sends chills running down her spine and the girl's heart beats wildly in her chest. Daddy must be home. The child rests more heavily against the plain white wall. She doesn't want to see Daddy. Not now. Tears well in her eyes and a few spill down her chubby cheeks.

Footsteps trail towards her room and she clenches her eyes tightly in anticipation for the blinding light to fall across her face when the door creaks open and Daddy steps in; but he doesn't come. Instead, the footsteps walk past her and onwards towards her Mummy's room and she rocks back and forth on the floor. Relief flows through her scrawny body as well as guilt because the child always listens to Mommy cry when Daddy leaves; cries that sometimes take the form of disturbing nightmares. Shudders quake her body and her dimpled arms cradle Mr. Buttons tightly against her chest, the toy’s plastic nose rising and falling with each beat of her heart.

Thump. Thump. Thump. The steady rhythm creates a lullaby that conceals the screams echoing throughout the house, allowing her to instead feel at peace, even if just for a moment. Her eyes flutter close as brighter, happier memories illuminate her mind; memories of sunshine and laughter and tenderness, all of which are now foreign to her. The child imagines a world of light, a utopia constructed upon love and joy, in which she may roam the vast lands until her heart is overflowing with wonder; free from the piercing chains that bound her. In her imagination she can be whoever she wants.

The luminescent full-moon hovers like a beacon in the darkness of the night as it peeks through wispy clouds; its light beaming down onto a tattered poster clinging desperately to a wooden street-light. A photograph of a young girl smiling widely into the camera whilst clutching a stuffed bear is stretched across the withered paper with the words ‘MISSING’ printed in bright, bold letters that seem to shine urgently in the moonlight.

A child’s screams pierce through the eery serenity of the street but as usual, no one hears them.