life suddenly had to
offer him.
Twelve
Tori panicked and looked all around, desperately hoping to spot
the bright pink little ski jacket that Elizabeth wore. She didn’t see her
anywhere, so she yelled, “Elizabeth! Where are you?!” She walked to the road at
the end of the driveway and looked both ways, seeing nothing but trees, widely
spaced cabins, and dirty snow.
“Elizabeth!” she called again, not
knowing what to do or which way to go to find her daughter. She fought back
tears and the urge to panic and tried to think. Where could she have possibly
gone? She wasn’t walking in either direction down the road – she’d be extremely
visible if she was.
She looked around and tried to
imagine where would a three-year old go – what would attract her or draw her
attention?
“Mommy.”
Did she actually hear that, or was
she imagining it?
“Where are you, baby? Elizabeth,
where are you?”
“I’m right here,” the tiny voice
sounded from somewhere nearby.
Tori turned to face the cabin and
saw the bright pink of her daughter’s jacket under her Pontiac Sunbird. She ran
the short distance and bent down to reach for her daughter.
“Oh, Jesus, baby. You scared me to
death. Why are you under the car?”
“The loud noise was scaring me, so
I hided.”
“It’s okay now, baby. Come here.”
Elizabeth crawled to her mother.
Tori picked her up and carried her to the porch and set her down for a minute.
“I’m sorry about the scary noise. I
had to break this window so we can get inside Grandma and Grandpa’s cabin and
get warm.”
“How come?”
“Because I don’t
have the key.”
“How come?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where’s Gramma and Grampa?”
“I don’t know, baby.”
Tori told herself that she hadn’t just lied to her daughter. She didn’t know that her parents
were dead from a nuclear blast, or possibly dying from radiation poisoning
somewhere. It was just the most probable thing. But she didn’t need to tell
Elizabeth about what had probably happened.
“I’m going to pick you up and carry
you through the window. I need you to put your hands in front of your chest and
keep them there. We have to be very careful going through the window so we
don’t get cut. Okay?”
Elizabeth nodded solemnly. Tori
picked her up, held her tightly and carefully and slowly ducked and stepped one
foot into the front room, crunching glass beneath her foot. She leaned over and
gently lowered Elizabeth until her shoes touched the floor.
“You can put your hands down now,
but don’t move.”
Elizabeth looked at the broken
glass all over the floor as Tori came through the rest of the way.
“The first thing we have to do is
clean up this mess – then we need to cover the broken window. Come with me,
baby.”
Tori got a broom and dustpan from
the utility room near the back door. She left Liz at the dining room table with
a coloring book and crayons she took from her little backpack. She cleaned up
all of the glass that she could see and feared that there would still be little
specks she couldn’t see and they’d end up finding them with their bare feet. If
she ever managed to get the house warm, they would have to wear shoes in the
living room. She put the broom and dustpan away and looked for something she
could use to cover the window.
She couldn’t find anything but
sheets and duct tape. Before trying to tape the sheet over the big window, she
put a can of soup on the gas stove with a very low flame. She turned around, looked
down at Liz and saw that she had drawn what might’ve been a mushroom cloud over
a picture of a house with an apple tree in the front yard.
Tori shook her head. She knew that
sooner or later Liz would talk about the strange cloud she’d seen and she’d ask
Tori if she’d seen it too, and she’d want to know what it was. Tori did not
want to tell her daughter about the horror and genocide that had been unleashed
on all of the people who lived in their
offer him.
Twelve
Tori panicked and looked all around, desperately hoping to spot
the bright pink little ski jacket that Elizabeth wore. She didn’t see her
anywhere, so she yelled, “Elizabeth! Where are you?!” She walked to the road at
the end of the driveway and looked both ways, seeing nothing but trees, widely
spaced cabins, and dirty snow.
“Elizabeth!” she called again, not
knowing what to do or which way to go to find her daughter. She fought back
tears and the urge to panic and tried to think. Where could she have possibly
gone? She wasn’t walking in either direction down the road – she’d be extremely
visible if she was.
She looked around and tried to
imagine where would a three-year old go – what would attract her or draw her
attention?
“Mommy.”
Did she actually hear that, or was
she imagining it?
“Where are you, baby? Elizabeth,
where are you?”
“I’m right here,” the tiny voice
sounded from somewhere nearby.
Tori turned to face the cabin and
saw the bright pink of her daughter’s jacket under her Pontiac Sunbird. She ran
the short distance and bent down to reach for her daughter.
“Oh, Jesus, baby. You scared me to
death. Why are you under the car?”
“The loud noise was scaring me, so
I hided.”
“It’s okay now, baby. Come here.”
Elizabeth crawled to her mother.
Tori picked her up and carried her to the porch and set her down for a minute.
“I’m sorry about the scary noise. I
had to break this window so we can get inside Grandma and Grandpa’s cabin and
get warm.”
“How come?”
“Because I don’t
have the key.”
“How come?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where’s Gramma and Grampa?”
“I don’t know, baby.”
Tori told herself that she hadn’t just lied to her daughter. She didn’t know that her parents
were dead from a nuclear blast, or possibly dying from radiation poisoning
somewhere. It was just the most probable thing. But she didn’t need to tell
Elizabeth about what had probably happened.
“I’m going to pick you up and carry
you through the window. I need you to put your hands in front of your chest and
keep them there. We have to be very careful going through the window so we
don’t get cut. Okay?”
Elizabeth nodded solemnly. Tori
picked her up, held her tightly and carefully and slowly ducked and stepped one
foot into the front room, crunching glass beneath her foot. She leaned over and
gently lowered Elizabeth until her shoes touched the floor.
“You can put your hands down now,
but don’t move.”
Elizabeth looked at the broken
glass all over the floor as Tori came through the rest of the way.
“The first thing we have to do is
clean up this mess – then we need to cover the broken window. Come with me,
baby.”
Tori got a broom and dustpan from
the utility room near the back door. She left Liz at the dining room table with
a coloring book and crayons she took from her little backpack. She cleaned up
all of the glass that she could see and feared that there would still be little
specks she couldn’t see and they’d end up finding them with their bare feet. If
she ever managed to get the house warm, they would have to wear shoes in the
living room. She put the broom and dustpan away and looked for something she
could use to cover the window.
She couldn’t find anything but
sheets and duct tape. Before trying to tape the sheet over the big window, she
put a can of soup on the gas stove with a very low flame. She turned around, looked
down at Liz and saw that she had drawn what might’ve been a mushroom cloud over
a picture of a house with an apple tree in the front yard.
Tori shook her head. She knew that
sooner or later Liz would talk about the strange cloud she’d seen and she’d ask
Tori if she’d seen it too, and she’d want to know what it was. Tori did not
want to tell her daughter about the horror and genocide that had been unleashed
on all of the people who lived in their
Similar Books
