| |
Jarred closed the Dr. Suess book and stared at his sleeping daughter. Her blonde curls were spread across the heart-shaped pillow that her mother had made, before she was born. Memories of a similar face flashed through his mind. It was almost Christmas and the one year anniversary of his beloved wife's death. He bent down to kiss his daughter good night and a tear from his eye slithered across Shelly’s cheek.
Jarred stumbled through the darkness of the shabby little apartment to his empty bed. He removed his clothing and crawled underneath the ragged comforter. The absence of her head on the pillow beside him was more than he could bear.
Memories of their last day together grasped him and carried back in time.
It was Christmas morning and Emily was sitting up in her hospital bed unwrapping her last Christmas gift. Her frail hands nervously struggled to free the contents of the package. She removed the scarf and lovingly kneaded the silk material between her fingertips. Her blue eyes twinkled and her pale, trembling lips formed into a smile. With a hoarse whisper she gently scolded him for spending more than he could afford on the expensive present.
Jarred wrapped the oriental scarf around her neck and softly kissed her pale cheek. She caressed his hand and closed her eyes. Jarred heard the sound of her last shallow breath and then silence filled the room.
“Why, God?” He screamed out at the darkness. “She was too young to die. Shelly and I needed her more than you did. You have a million angels in Heaven. Why did you take mine?”
He sat up in his bed and pulled his bare knees up to his chest. Jarred rocked himself back and forth sobbing uncontrollably. “God, please help me,” he prayed. “I don’t know how to raise my daughter alone.”
“Daddy, are you all right?” Shelley asked trying to open the locked door of her Daddy’s bedroom. “Daddy, answer me.”
The concern in his daughter’s voice startled Jarred. He quickly wiped the moisture from his face with the comforter. “Hang on a minute, honey, “ he hollered through the locked door. “Daddy’s coming.” He quickly jerked on his pants and unlocked the door.
“Daddy, I heard you crying, “ she said, looking up at him. “I know you miss mommy, but we will be ok, daddy.”
“Daddy wasn’t crying. That was the television that you heard. I’m sorry that it woke you.”
She reached up and collected a tear form his face that he had missed with the comforter. “You don’t have to hide your tears from me, daddy. I miss mommy too”
He picked Shelley up and held her close to his chest. “I know you miss mommy,” he said, gently stroking her hair.
“Remember what mommy always said. Families share their laughter and their tears.”
Jarred held his daughter and cried with her, until she fell asleep in his arms. Then he carried her back to her bed and kissed her goodnight.
He returned to his own bed and drifted off to sleep. She was there reaching out to him, but when he reached out his arms, she faded into the mist. Jarred was awakened by the chiming of the alarm clock.
He jerked on his pants and stumbled into the bathroom. The reflection staring back at him from the mirror was a man that he no longer recognized. Dark circles surrounded his puffy green eyes. His long raven tresses fell limply across his slumped shoulders and his unshaven chin was covered in an unruly mass of wiry black hair.
Today was Shelly’s first day of kindergarten at her new school. He could not embarrass her by taking her to school looking like a homeless bum. Jarred quickly showered and wrapped a towel around his waist. He desperately searched the cabinet drawers for a disposable razor, but his search was futile. All the razors were either broken or rusted. He would just have to do the best he could with the scissors. Black hairs covered the cracked porcelain sink as he whacked away at his beard.
He brushed his hair and tied it back in a ponytail. There was not enough time for a haircut. He still had to fix Shelly’s breakfast, before he woke her. Jarred ran to his closet and searched for a clean pair of pants and shirt. He had not had time to go to the Laundromat and everything he owned was soiled and wrinkled. Laundry was just one of the many household chores that had been left undone. He finally located some clean clothes and slipped them on. Now, he had fifteen minutes left to fix Shelly’s breakfast and get her ready for school.
“Shelly, get up, “ he yelled as he passed her bedroom door on his way to the kitchen. He grabbed two bowls and a box of cereal from underneath the cabinet. Lucky charms would have to suffice, because there was no time to fix a hot breakfast. He reached in the refrigerator and grabbed the jug of milk, but it was empty. Now what the hell was he going to feed his daughter?
Shelly walked into the kitchen rubbing her sleepy eyes. “Daddy, I am hungry. What are we having for breakfast?”
Wasn’t that the million-dollar question this morning? He thought to himself, while rummaging through the cabinets for a quick meal. The cupboards were bare and he had no money left to purchase food. The outrageous rent on the rat-infested apartment had taken every dime of his measly paycheck. He reached into this pocket and scrambled around for some loose change. Well, ninety-seven cents would purchase a bagel at the corner café’. “Shelly, go get dressed and we will stop by the coffee shop on the way
to school.”
“Yay, I love cream cheese bagels,” said Shelly, running to get dressed.
Jarred prayed a cream cheese bagel would not cost more than ninety-seven cents, or he would be forced to spend his day washing dishes at the café to pay for it.
Shelly returned to the living room in pair of jeans that were several inches too short and a faded, pink, Barbie, sweatshirt. She put on her ragged coat, and slipped on her thread-barren mittens. “Let’s go, Daddy, “ she said, tugging at his coat tail. “I am going to be late for school.”
The cold December wind nipped at their cheeks as they walked out onto the snow-covered streets of Manhattan. His car had broken down a couple of months earlier and he could not afford to have the transmission rebuilt. Luckily, the elementary school was only a block away, and they would not have to walk very far.
|
Help Us Stop Plagiarism -
Nearly all works at PnP are original. However a few people choose to plagiarize.
To check, choose a phrase from the work, then either drag and drop to the search box or copy and paste.
click on search and works at Google will be shown which match. Just to be sure, please do this before
you recommend or rate the work highly...
|
 |
|
|
|
Select a Random Work
from Stories
|
|
Welcome !
