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It was cute at first, or at least it
seemed so. Little Suzie had an imaginary friend that she started having tea
parties with. Not altogether unusual for a little girl of her age, but perhaps
the effort was greater than one might expect. She always brought enough tea and
snacks for “both of them.” Perhaps her parents might have realized something
was amiss sooner if they had noticed right away that both cups were empty at
the end of every party.
The first time her father noticed,
he thought nothing of it. When his sister was little, she always drank both
cups or tried to feed it to her teddy bear with mixed results. The first time
her mother noticed, she didn’t know what to make of it. She thought something
was off but had her mind occupied by bills and other obligations. It only grew
stranger from there…
Perhaps the first sign that
something was genuinely wrong was how long the parties would go and how much
Suzie seemed to “learn” from her friend. Suzie was never the best in her
history or English class, yet suddenly, she excelled. Learning such big words
like pontificate and exceptional, or cleaning up her handwriting to well above
her grade level. Then came her disturbingly detailed accounts of the distant
history of their fair little town.
Most knew of the cornfield fire of
1822; it was perhaps the most and only famous event in the area. Yet, few
memorized the exact date or the fine details. Then Suzie came along, rattling
off every last one. March 12th, 1822, around 11:00 pm, a poorly hung oil
lantern was knocked from its perch by a runaway horse and crashed into the
field. An unusually dry year had made the field ripe for a fire. Every effort
to initially put out the blaze only made it worse, and it was a minor miracle
that it was stopped before it could ravage the whole town.
Alas, many lives were still lost
that day. Most tragically so, a handful of children who had fallen asleep while
playing in the field found themselves trapped in a nearby farmhouse while
trying to escape. The fire consumed the whole area and left them and the
farmhouse a smoldering heap. They never did find all the remains.
Little Suzie’s retelling of the
event was quite detailed. Down to the smells and sounds leading up to it, as
though she read a first-hand account. When her parents asked where she read
this, she answered simply, “I didn’t read it, Mary told me.”
\________________/
“Her imagination has grown quite
active,” her father told her mother. “I’d never expect her to lie about where
she learned something, though.”
“I don’t think it’s her
imagination,” her mother replied. “I’m worried she’s learning this from
someone.”
“A complete stranger tutoring her in
English and history?” Her father scoffed, “I think she’s just taken an interest
in such subjects but doesn’t want to admit it. Has she been reading odd fantasy
stories again?”
“I don’t know, this imaginary friend
business has been bothering me for a while,” her mother admitted.
“Dear, you worry too much. I know
the change is sudden, but I think it’s for the best,” the father assured.
“She’s having one of her tea parties now. I’ll check on her and make sure no
creeps have broken into the house to teach her history lessons.” The father
laughed but still patted his wife’s shoulder. He didn’t want her to worry, and
he didn’t want to admit a part of him shared her concerns.
The walk upstairs was short, yet it
never felt so long before. The father could hear his daughter conversing in
quite an animated fashion with her imaginary friend. Mary, was it? It was
strange. Imaginary friends were not a foreign concept to him; he had a couple
when he was her age. Yet, this didn’t sound quite the same. It sounded less
like a game of make-believe and more like a conversation he missed half of.
“I told them the story, but they
didn’t believe me when I said I learned it from you,” Suzie said to ‘Mary’ in
an upset tone. “I know. Adults can be so hardheaded.”
“Children,” her father chuckled.
“What do you mean? No, I’d never say
that to them,” Suzie replied. “Of course…No…I don’t know…Well…”
“Perhaps my wife was right to be a
little concerned,” the father felt a tightening in his chest. He didn’t like
Suzie’s sudden change in tone. She sounded so uncertain. Not scared, but like
she’s hearing something she disagrees with, but can’t argue against. What is
Mary saying to her?
“Isn’t it scary over there? Lonely,
huh?” Suzie continued her conversation. “Hmm…Forever! I mean, I’d like that,
but what do you…Oh…I…”
“Quite the elaborate fantasy,” the
father felt his heart beating. It was all make-believe, right? So why was he so
concerned? At least he was at the door. “Suzie, sweetie, I’m coming in.”
“Daddy? I’m having a tea party
right…” Suzie was interrupted by the door opening.
“Suzie, your mother was con…” her
father stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes beheld what was on the opposite
side of his daughter’s little table. “Sweetie…what is that?”
“Daddy, don’t be mean! That’s Mary,”
Suzie huffed as though her father was being rude to a friend. But it was clear
whatever she saw was not what her father was seeing. Those twisted shadows at
the other end of the table didn’t look like a friend to him. All he could think
was, what was this horrible monster, and why was it talking to his daughter?
“Sweetie, could you please back away
from…” her father began, but soon found the words dying in his throat. He could
feel ‘Mary’s’ gaze upon him, even though he couldn’t see her eyes. He had never
felt such malice directed at him before. It felt like he had intruded into the
den of a lion and tried to take its cub.
‘GET OUT!’ The words were not said;
they did not magically appear in his mind, and they didn’t appear in blood on
the wall or materialize in the air. Yet, he could read the room and knew that
was what was being communicated to him. He wanted to reach for his daughter and
pull her to safety, but something told him that would be an unwise decision.
The father quickly returned to the
hall, and the door shut behind him. He was so stunned by the experience that he
couldn’t tell if he had done so or if ‘Mary’ had. He needed to call out to his
wife, but his body was shaking in terror. He was afraid that if he so much as
opened his mouth, ‘Mary’ would take offense somehow.
“No, Daddy wouldn’t do that…” Suzie
said. “Well, yes, but he just doesn’t know you yet.”
‘Get up, get moving, tell your wife.
Suzie is in danger.’
“And Mommy would…She knows what?”
Suzie seemed confused. “What does that mean? No, I don’t want that to happen!”
‘What is she saying? What’s going
on? Have to warn my wife.’
“But I’m not ready to go yet. I
need…Everything? I don’t even need to pack?” Suzie continued.
‘Up, Up!’ The father forced himself
to his feet and rushed downstairs. His wife looked at him in surprise, seeing
him so shaken. “Suzie…danger…I don’t know what Mary is, but I think she’s
trying to take Suzie away!”
His wife looked at him like he was
insane, but the fear on his face was so genuine. How could she dismiss him? She
had concerns over the situation, but this far exceeded anything she could
imagine. Then, the sounds came from upstairs, and they both rushed back
upstairs.
The mother, with a nameless fear in
her heart, forced open the door, ready to face whatever may be haunting her
daughter, but what she saw next made her heart sink into the floor. She didn’t
know what to expect, perhaps a ghost or demon leering over her child. Maybe a
monster was dragging her away, or a freakish person was climbing in through the
window.
What she didn’t expect to find was
an empty room, barren of everything except the floorboards. Even Suzie’s
beloved bird-covered curtains were missing. It was as though no one lived here
at all. The mother sank to the floor as her husband arrived a second later.
They both realized in unison that their daughter was gone.
The father stared out the now
undressed window, stolen of everything, even the dust on the sill, hoping it
may elucidate their predicament in even the smallest ways. Alas, all he saw was
the flicker of a shadow disappearing so fast that he wasn’t sure if he saw
anything at all.
>>>~~~~<<<
Imagination is all well and good, but you must learn distinguish between what is make believe and what is very real.
Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy.
