Her Blood Moon

Dawn ran out of her father's basic cream single wide trailer, the screen door slamming shut behind her, screaming as loud as her little lungs could, batting away the ladybugs in her hair. Frantic to get the tiny black and red crawly bugs off of her, she threw herself on the ground rolling like she was on fire. Her short red hair becoming a mess of knots as she rolled in the grass, her eyes shut tight. Twitching left and right, trying desperately to get rid of the tiny-legged creatures crawling all over her. She could feel them in her hair, on her face, her neck, all over and she was not having it. Anyone driving by would think she was having a seizure as badly as she jerked around. Suddenly, strong arms wrapped around her waist, picking her up and holding her in the air, a deep voice could barely be heard over her screams of fright. " Dawn, calm down. They're just ladybugs! They won't hurt you! Stop screaming!" David, Dawn's father, quickly swiped ladybugs off of her, swiping the ones crawling on her little pink jacket onto the ground, picking a couple out of her bright blood-red hair, biting the inside of his cheek, trying desperately not to laugh. Dawn didn't find any of this situation funny, and feeling her blood boil she finally opened her amber-colored eyes, giving her father a glare. Pouting her lips, she glanced between him and the ladybug-infested trailer of hell. She could see multiple of those polka dotted vermin flying around just inside the screen door, and it made her shiver in terror. She was not pleased. First, her daddy made her sit perfectly quiet in the pickup for what felt like forever to show her his new place and her new weekend bedroom, and as they walked in, she got attacked by tiny bugs swirling around her. It was like a nightmare, but instead of her waking up and none of it being real, she ended up with a hair full of bugs on her head. Dawn hated bugs, they made her skin crawl and made her want to cry. Her lips trembled as she was ready to throw a temper tantrum. "It's not funny, Daddy. I don't like bugs! I don't like them! I don't like them!" David's short brown hair shone in the sunlight as he looked down at his daughter, his dark brown eyes dancing behind his glasses in humor, his brown mustache twitching as he tried to hide his smile. He pulled her close into a hug, trying to calm her down. The hug did not help the anger that was boiling just below the surface. Dawn was known for her temper. When something didn't go her way, she would do anything she could to make situations change in her favor. She glared at her daddy. The temper tantrum was ten seconds away from appearing and he knew it. "Again, they won't hurt you, I promise. And next weekend I get you, I'll make sure they're gone. Okay?" Dawn continued to glare, looking between the trailer and her dad. Contemplating if that was good enough, or to throw a tantrum until the ladybug dungeon was clear, and she didn't see those things crawling on the screen door anymore. David could tell it was going to take more than a promise of the demise of the ladybugs to keep her temper in check. He knew his daughter. She had her mom's temper. Finally, a chuckle escaped David, and reading his child's mind, he shook his head and sighed. "OK, how about a compromise? We will leave here. I will make some phone calls to get the trailer clear of the dreaded ladybugs and you and I will go get some McDonald's. Would that make it better?" Dawn's tepid mood visibly altered as her eyes widened at the mention of her favorite fast food joint. She grinned ear to ear and wiggled in David's arms excitedly. "Cheeseburger with only ketchup and fries???" Her little voice was dripping with happiness at this point. Nothing made her happier than the promise of a cheeseburger and the idea of playing at the playplace inside McDonalds. David looked into her eyes and smiled again, knowing he had won the battle. "Sounds like a plan to me. I was getting hungry anyway." Dawn giggled as she tried to jump out of his arms, him slowly lowering her to the ground. Squeeling in glee, she pumped her 4-year-old little legs as hard as she could and ran to his little red Toyota pickup truck, opening the door and climbing inside, waiting for him to lock up. She quickly buckled herself up and sat there swinging her legs, eyeing him. He was so slow! She started kicking faster as she watched him walk toward the trailer. She loved her daddy, she was sad for him and her momma since they no longer lived together. The thought made her really sad. She just didn't understand why he lived in the ladybug trailer. Her mom and her lived in the apartment with the new guy who looked at her funny and gave her weird hugs. But she was happy her daddy came every weekend and picked her up, and she got to spend time with him. It still wasn't the same since he left, though. Momma kept drinking her stinky juice, and the new guy made her yell and cry. Nothing was the same anymore and Dawn didn't like it. Dawn was tired of moving, she missed their old home when momma and daddy were still together. Her momma said the homeowners got mad and made them keep moving. They were in the third apartment since Daddy left. Momma wasn't happy anymore, not that she was always happy with Daddy, but she was sadder now. She was kind of happy when she drank her stinky juice, but it was a weird happiness. She laughed with the guy, but then sometimes she would yell. It just depended on the amount of stinky juice she drank. Dawn didn't like yelling, especially when momma would yell and throw stuff, and the guy would yell back and hurt her. Dawn hid when this happened. It scared her. But none of that happened when Dawn was with daddy. Daddy never ever yelled. He spanked her sometimes, but only if Dawn threw a fit. But a lot of the time her daddy knew how to keep her temper from going crazy, like with bribes from McDonald's. David finally walked toward the pickup after locking the door and climbed into the driver's seat, reached over Dawn to check her seat belt and started the ignition. He grinned over at Dawn and yelled out "McDonald's, here we come!" Dawn giggled in her seat, smiling up at her daddy. She loved him so much, why couldn't he forgive momma, and they could be a happy family again? Dawn wanted them all to go to McDonald's and laugh and just be together. She overheard him say something about her cheating, but didn't really understand what that meant. Only that daddy was really mad and walked out and never came back. Her belly hurt when she was home with her mommy, it hurt even more when mommy left her home alone with the guy that lived with them.... "Daddy, can we stop and pick Momma up and take her to McDonalds too?" David frowned at this, he stared straight ahead and Dawn could tell she had just made him sad and felt bad. "No Dawn, we can't. You'll see her tomorrow when i take you home, OK?" Dawn looked down at the floorboard, not answering. She didn't want to go home. Her belly started hurting....part of her wanted to throw a fit and tell daddy she wanted to stay with him. But glancing over at him, she could tell he was already sad. She didn't want to make him more sad, so she focused on McDonald's, her cheeseburger, and the playplace she knew she would be playing in soon and pushed everything else out of her mind.