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Happiness Lost

    "Sweetheart! Please be careful!" I shouted at my daughter who was currently playing on the swings. She always swings up too high. Sometimes I'm afraid she'll swing clear over the top pole and wrap herself around it. I kept scolding her to make her stop, but, to no avail. I lived for days like this. Days I got to spend with my little girl, when I didn't have to work, and she didn't have school. Days where we got to stay up late, play games, watch movies, and eat junk. I knew I wasn't the conventional type of mother. After all, I was only 21. Still very much a kid myself. The day I became a mother, was the happiest and most terrifying day of my life. Though I suppose that's how all new parents feel. But you should see the judgement I got from all the other parents and teachers at her school. They loved to tell me how I was doing it all wrong and even though they never said anything, I knew they were judging my age and marital status. But I didn't particularly care. Being an unmarried, young mother, was the least of my problems. All I cared about was keeping her safe. My Amelia. "Momma!' I heard a cry, snapping me out of my deep thoughts and I saw Amelia on the ground in front of the swings sobbing. "Amelia!' I shouted and sprinted over to her. She was clutching her arm and crying. I immediately started assessing her injuries. She could move her arm so it wasn't broken but there was a huge cut, bleeding profusely right by her elbow. Right away, I took the first aide kit out that I always keep in my purse and started pressing gauze to the cut. Once I wrapped the gauze to her elbow, I took off my jacket, wrapped her up in it and drove her right to the hospital. Unfortunately the hospital was swamped because of a nearby car crash. I wasn't surprised. New York City has car crashes once a day. Sometimes I think people are so stupid for trying to drive in this city. I always took the subway. So I sat quietly with Amelia in the waiting room. I kept her entertained after she had calmed down from her fall and we sat there for hours playing our own little games. I kept my eye on the TV in the waiting room, curious about the updates of the crash, but mostly kept my attention on Amelia checking her cut periodically and keeping her occupied until she eventually fell asleep in her chair. I made sure my jacket was wrapped around her like a blanket, and decided to just watch the news. We'd been here for 3 hours already, but I didn't mind the wait. I never minded waiting. On the news, they kept giving updates about the car crash. the damage was extensive. But so far, there haven't been any reported deaths, just a lot of major in juries. Other than that, there wasn't much else to report. They kept giving a list of names as they found out who was involved in the pile up. But then a name popped up on the screen that made my blood run cold. The reporter gave the update, "Ashlynn Cassel was found dead yesterday morning in an apartment in Brooklyn. The police just released her identity as well as the fact that she was living under the alias of Marian Williams. It has been five years since there has been any record of the remaining of the Cassel family. Up until now, they were all believed to be dead. We believe that Ashlynn was the last living survivor from the m******e five years ago." Tears started pouring down my face. It was a few minutes before I could compose myself and I caught the last of her report which was "The police have informed us that Ashlynn Cassel's death was ruled a homicide." A sob broke out of me before I had a chance to stop it. "Lyla Forest?" I jumped at the sound of my name before I saw a nurse standing in the waiting room. "Yeah," I said composing myself. I went and picked up Amelia, and brought her to the exam room the nurse led us to. I had to stay calm. Now was not the time for panicking. They found Ashlynn and all this time, she was in the city. That means that they could already be here in Manhattan. They could be coming right now. My mind kept racing. While Amelia was getting stitched up, I ran through a hundred scenarios in my head. All the way back home, Amelia kept asking me what was wrong. But I couldn't tell her. She could never know. Later that night I put her to bed, and immediately went to work. I didn't want to worry anyone. I couldn't believe what was happening. I started searching online for anything related to Ashlynn. Apparently she had been in the city for the past year. Before that, she jumped around from place to place, and I immediately realized her mistake. She didn't sit still, or try to disappear into one place. I kept trying to tell myself that it had to be a coincidence. That people get mugged all the time here. But then, every inch of doubt was removed from my mind the moment I saw the cause of death. Massive blood loss. The intruder stabbed her directly in the carotid artery and she bled out in seconds. The horrifying thing is that there was no evidence of a break in, a robbery, or any physical violence. Just a knife to the neck. That was it. I wiped away my tears furiously. I couldn't look at this anymore. I went straight to my room, pulled out my suitcase and started packing. I knew one thing was certain. We had to get out.