Chapter 2 The Long Sleep
1026 Words
I clung to Mommy, sobbing. "I don't want Daddy anymore..."
Mommy hugged me back, patting my back, one beat at a time, one beat at a time.
Daddy stared at her, his face like stone. "This is the daughter you raised. No manners at all. She shouldn't have been born in the first place."
His words cut into me and Mommy like a knife.
He used to be annoyed with me, sure, but he never said anything this cruel.
Mommy watched, her face wrecked, as Daddy took that woman's hand like she was something precious and walked out with her.
Looking at their backs, I felt a hurt I couldn't name.
"Emma!" Mommy called me.
In the empty foyer, she looked at me soft, tears in her eyes.
"Mommy wants to spend a little more time with Emma. Will Emma stay with Mommy a while?"
I scrambled back into Mommy's arms. "Emma will stay with Mommy forever."
Mommy smiled, touched my head, and led me back to the bedroom.
Lying in bed, Mommy curled around me, stroking my little head, over and over.
"Emma, if Mommy has to go somewhere very, very far away, you have to be brave. You have to take care of yourself. You have to grow up..."
I was confused. Didn't Daddy say we couldn't leave here? Where could Mommy go?
"Very far away — where? The moon? Can Mommy take Emma with her? Emma doesn't want to leave Mommy."
I tilted my head up to look at her, but I couldn't see her face.
Just hot tears sliding down Mommy's cheek onto mine, hitting me like they weighed something.
She held me tight, said she was sorry.
My nose stung. I started crying too.
I didn't really know why I was crying. I just saw Mommy like that, and I hurt.
I cried until I couldn't catch my breath.
My heart — oh, my heart hurt so much, like it was being ripped into pieces.
Mommy came back to herself, gently wiped my tears, and held me, rocking me softly.
"Emma, time to sleep."
She sang me a lullaby. Brahms. "Lullaby, and good night, in the sky stars are bright..."
Her voice got smaller and smaller, weaker and weaker.
I wasn't asleep yet, and then Mommy made no sound at all.
I nestled against her, nuzzling softly. "Sleep, Mommy. When you wake up, it won't hurt anymore."
When we wake up, we'll leave together.
I don't know how long I slept. I woke up cold.
Sleeping in Mommy's arms used to be so warm. This time it was cold all the way through.
I thought Mommy had gotten up. I sat up in a panic.
She was still in bed.
The Witness hadn't taken Mommy away.
Seeing her still asleep, I let out a breath.
I stayed by Mommy's bed, carefully pulling the blanket up over her.
I didn't dare go back to sleep, afraid someone would come in and take her.
But from morning to dusk, she still didn't wake up.
When I slept in, Mommy used to call me a sleepyhead.
I did what Mommy used to do — I reached up and pinched her nose. "Wake up, sleepyhead."
No one answered.
Mommy didn't move. She was sleeping deep.
I touched her body. Stiff. Not warm and soft like usual.
Just then, my stomach growled.
I shook Mommy's hand, hard. "Mommy, Emma's hungry."
She still didn't wake up.
I had to climb down from the bed by myself and go see if there was anything left in the fridge.
I dragged a step stool over, stood on my tiptoes, and finally got the fridge open. All I found was a cold carton of Stonyfield yogurt.
Night came down. The house was black.
This big house, just me and Mommy, so quiet, not a single sound.
I was a little scared. It had never been this quiet here.
I crawled back into Mommy's arms, trying to get a little warmth.
But her arms were so cold, I shivered.
Was Mommy going to catch a cold?
I climbed back up, stood on the chair, and tried to drag the heavy down comforter out of the closet.
The chair wobbled. The comforter was so heavy.
I fell off the chair.
I landed inside the comforter, and it was soft, like being in Mommy's arms.
I kind of didn't want to leave. But I kept dragging it, trying to get it over Mommy.
The comforter was so heavy. My arms ached.
I called out to Mommy, still fast asleep in the bed. "Mommy... Emma can't lift it."
I called a bunch of times. Mommy still didn't wake up.
But before, she always came over, gentle, to help me.
I felt wronged. Tears poured out.
But I cried for a long time, and Mommy still didn't come.
I had to wipe my face and use every bit of strength I had to drag that comforter up.
After I got it over Mommy, I slid under it too.
Inside the comforter, it was stuffy. I hugged Mommy tight.
Mommy used to laugh and tell me, "Emma's five now, she should sleep by herself."
But today Mommy was so cold. I couldn't let her sleep alone.
I poked my head out of the comforter and looked at Mommy's pale face. "Mommy, when you're warm again, Emma will go sleep by herself."
I yawned, and my eyes slowly closed.
Somewhere in the blur, I thought I heard Mommy laugh and say "okay."
But when I opened my eyes to listen closer —
It was just my stomach growling again.
I rubbed my tummy and shushed it.
Don't wake Mommy.
Mommy was tired. This sleep was deep.
The next day came, and she still didn't wake up.
I got worried. I pushed at her body, but she still didn't move, cold as ice from head to toe.
I was scared. She'd never slept this long before.
Noise out in the foyer — someone was here.
It had to be Daddy!
I wiped my face, climbed down from the bed, and ran out barefoot.
"Daddy! Come quick, save Mommy!"
- Writer
