Sleepers Part 1

Sleepers Episode II

Chapter 2

5 years later……

                The Talbot’s marriage which had once been loving and hopeful was now strained.  The change began shortly after they had finally managed to conceive with the help of GenLife.  Not long after Mrs. Talbot began to feel strange about the baby she was carrying.  She voiced her fears to her husband about having a feeling that it wasn’t their child.  Mr. Talbot tried to console his wife, but nothing seemed to help.  At their next appointment he talked to the doctor about it fearing his wife would injure herself or worse, their unborn child.

                The doctor reassured him that it sometimes happened in artificial insemination.  He talked to the both of them about seeing the onsite therapist to help them.  Mrs. Talbot only agreed when he told her that the likelihood of all their losses so far could have taken a toll on the two of them.  It was imperative that they work together as a joint unit or she may miscarry as she had done the few times they managed to conceive before.  Even feeling as if a foreign fetus had taken up residence inside her body she still didn’t necessarily wish it harm.

                When their daughter was finally born however those feelings changed.  Something was not right with their newborn.  The baby felt so alien to her that Mrs. Talbot could not bond with her.  Mr. Talbot was over the moon with joy of their little miracle.  He couldn’t understand what was wrong with his wife so once again he consulted their doctor.  This time Mrs. Talbot was treated for postpartum.  No matter how much treatment she received they just couldn’t help her.

                As their daughter grew and became older Mrs. Talbot became more estranged from her.  Unhappy with his wife’s behavior the two of them fought.  The more distance Mrs. Talbot put between herself and little Amy the more frequent the couple would fight.  Mrs. Talbot was astounded by how her husband couldn’t see how wrong the small girl appeared to be.

                Lately Amy’s behavior had become even more disconcerting.  It was the very reason that the couple was having yet another argument that morning.  Mrs. Talbot had been trying once again to get her husband to really pay attention to what his ‘Little Angel’ was actually saying.  Mr. Talbot was adamant that his wife schedules an appointment with her GenLife psychologist immediately.

                Four-and-a-half-year-old Amy calmly walked into the open dinning room/kitchen.  She ignored the noise of her parents yelling, used to the frequency of their disagreements by now.  The clacking of her shiny white dress shoes across the tiled floor could barely be heard over her parent’s voices.  Using the chair at her spot at the table Amy steadied herself as she stepped up the rungs of her little step stool.  It had a permanent place next to her seat to help her tiny form up onto the chair.  Adjusting the poofy skirt of her pale pink dress she climbed into her booster managing to sit with minimal crushing to the lacy embellishments along the hem.  Her cupid’s bow mouth pursed as she puffed out her round rosy cheeks in frustration.  Her light blue eyes narrowed at the sight of the morning meal growing cold in the center of the table just out of her reach.

                Pushing her plate and utensils to the side to make room on the table for her tablet and crayons.  Pulling them in front of her she opened the book to a fresh page and began to hum.  Swinging her little legs encased in white tights in time to the music she was creating she looked over her colors.  Picking up the chunky implement Amy drew contently ignoring the noise around her.  As she moved the red color across the page her golden curly hair swayed to either side of her head where it had been tied up neatly into pigtails with pink satin ribbons to match her clothes.  As her picture came to life on the paper a serene smile rested upon her sweet face bringing out hints of the dimples in either cheek.

                A tense silence fell over the other two occupants of the room when they had finally noticed their daughter had joined them.  Mr. Talbot sent a warning glare in his wife’s direction before joining Amy at the table for breakfast.  He had been working a lot more since the birth of their daughter.  He didn’t want her to need for anything.  With his wife staying home now to take care of Amy he worked doubly hard to make up for her lost income.  They weren’t hurting for money by any means, but it was always best to be prepared.  Unfortunately, he was not able to spend the quality time with Amy that he wished too.  It was small moments like these that brought that fact to his attention.

                Mrs. Talbot watched the two of them from the counter that divided the space into two separate rooms.  She hated when Amy would draw in her tablet and preferred not to interfere.  The few times she had; Mrs. Talbot had regretted it.  Now she usually waited until Amy wasn’t around to take peeks.  After she had seen the pictures increasing in disturbing content she had decided it was Amy that needed counseling.  It had been the subject of her side of that morning’s argument, but her husband flat out refused.  Even if she couldn’t get him on board she had chosen to take Amy in anyway.

                “What are you drawing kiddo?”  Mr. Talbot asked as he dished up a plate of food for his daughter.

                “I killed another one.”  She answered politely not bothering to glance up from her work.

                “Killed another what sweetheart?”  He questioned gingerly slightly put off by her response.

                “It was a man this time.”  She stated matter of fact.  Her tiny voice carrying no emotional inflection.  Mrs. Talbot moved around the counter making her way to the table.

                “What was a man honey?”  Mr. Talbot further inquired confused by the conversation they were having.  His hands had stilled in their actions as his full attention was now centered on Amy.  Mrs. Talbot took the dish from him proceeding to cut up Amy’s food into bite sized pieces.  She knew what was coming and tried not to listen.  She couldn’t help hearing the words of the child she had long since known wasn’t her daughter.

                “I started with his tongue.  He didn’t use it well anyway.  Then I took his eyes.  They were so pretty, I wanted them.”  Mr. Talbot sat speechless looking down to the crudely drawn over-sized head of a person.  Red covered the paper as sightless black circles upon his face depicted the scene she was describing.  Merriment lit up Amy’s features as if she were recalling a favorite memory.  Mr. Talbot moved his gaze to look upon the resigned face of his wife.  Mrs. Talbot didn’t want to meet his eyes fearing another fight would ensue.  Surely he had to believe her now when faced with the facts himself.  Opting to keep her stare adverted she gave him the only response that she could.

                “Amy has been having dreams.”  Finished cutting up the food Mrs. Talbot set the utensils aside patiently waiting for Amy to finish her picture.

                “Do your nightmares scare you?”  Mr. Talbot ventured worried that his daughter had been watching something she shouldn’t before bed.  It was possible that hearing her parents fight and yell so often could have caused it as well.

                “Why would I be scared?  He had it coming.  He should have known what was going to happen.”  She explained as if it was the most normal thing in the world.  “Besides they’re not nightmares daddy.”  Amy giggled as if the idea was so completely silly that it tickled her.

                “Aren’t bad dreams nightmares?”  Mr. Talbot broached unwilling to believe what his wife had been telling him all along.  Amy stopped coloring looking at her father with a roll of her eyes.

                “They’re not bad.”  She explained with exasperation before turning a cold stare on Mrs. Talbot.  “They’re not dreams either.”  After getting her thoughts out in the open Amy went back to her creation.

                “If they’re not dreams Amy, then what are they?”  He was almost afraid to ask after watching the brief interaction between his daughter and wife.  Mrs. Talbot’s face had blanched white and her eyes had widened.  She should have chastised their daughter after the way Amy had spoken to her.  Mrs. Talbot, however, remained frozen as if in response to provoking a predator.  Amy sighed irritably at having so many interruptions that morning.  Putting her crayons back into the box she closed her tablet and moved them out of the way.  Mrs. Talbot placed the plate in front of Amy glad to be finished with her task.

                “They’re memories.”  Amy finally gave him an answer before tucking into her morning meal.  She was done interacting with the two of them and proceeded to ignore their existence as she ate.