HAPPINESS AND THE DAUGHTER SHE LOVED (Abstract yourself Prompt)
I’m Happiness and this is the story of my life.
We met the day you were snuggled against your mother’s breast, satisfied after hours of relentless feeding. Days flew as I watched you play tirelessly with your hands and feet as you kicked the air, while your father rocked the cradle.
Holding his finger, you teetered and mouthed words which didn’t make sense yet tickled the hearts of everyone around. I enjoyed dancing on their lips and the lilt of their laughter. I, Happiness had found the house of my dreams. The shelter of these joyful souls my mansion, more lavish than ever built.
A gift arrived on your fourth birthday, a porcelain doll with a plastered smile and a floral gown trailing behind it. The light in your brown eyes was a sight to behold. The way your eyes crinkled and narrowed as you circled the doll while clapping and singing your heart out. I floated in the air, riding on the breeze, attending every guest until the last one left.
The clock’s hands met at twelve, striking the gong with as many hits. I peeked from your bedroom keyhole, you were tucked in your bed. Your mother was sitting beside you, patting your head and singing your favourite lullaby. I knew it was time for me to lie low for a while and I was stepping back when I saw it. The doll, its eyes moved. Sleep pulled me away but the last curl on your mother’s lips gave me a glimpse. It stared at you from behind her back.
The house slept while I paced in oblivion, restless and worried for you. It was a toy but it moved. What did it want? Who sent that gift? Was it dark magic? Why aren’t you up yet?
I woke up in the basement, trapped and bolted in the darkness. A wail split me into two, scratching me, pulling and pinning me to the cold floor. It was your father crying your name out.
Feet stomped overhead, planks creaked, raining dust over me. Sirens squawked outside the house, their sound dampened with the soil I was buried under. I wrestled, writhed, wiggled to break free. Searching a way out, longing for you bright face, your small lips, your smiling eyes. Where are your chuckles, my dear? Just smile for a bit so I can see you are okay and breath easy. A giggle will do hon, or even the tap of your feet like when you frolicked through the house. Get me out!
A jerk yanks me back. I’m in your room, stuck and paralysed but I can see. The furniture is being moved out, carried by uniformed men wearing silicone gloves. Your bed is still there. The pillow is on the floor. It’s torn open and its stuffing is strewed everywhere. The pink teddy you always carried is lying near the door. Two men flip over your bed and haul it out. Its wooden frame is scratched underneath. A tuft of your hair lies below it, stuck in a pool of blood. No! I want to close my eyes, run away, hide forever and never come out. What’s keeping me?
They tilt the mirror and drag it out, it’s screeching cooks a storm within me. And there, I see the reflection of my captor. The doll. Its fair face smeared with blood, its smile wider than before. Its black heart holding me prisoner, damning me to eternal solitude.
I exist, but I’m lost. I’m torn but there is a shard of hope, a dream of losing myself to find you, smiling and holding me. I will not let go this time.
To read other stories from October’s Dark & Weird Fiction Challenge, visit and follow The Mad River Literary Journal and 13 Days Pub.
