Contest Entry for Flash Fiction |
"Mommy! Mommy!", Becky was screaming in terror. I ran into her room and wrapped my arms around her. "What's wrong, honey? It's okay, Mommy's here". I tried to comfort her, but she was panicked. I picked her up and carried her back to my room. "Okay, now tell me, did you have a dream?" "No, Mommy, the dollies are looking at me!" "Dollies can't see, dear. They're not real." "No, Mommy, they look at me. I can see their eyes glow." It took an hour to get her back to sleep. The next morning, I set about the morning tasks while Becky played in her room. When I went to check on her she was sitting in the middle of her room with a pair of scissors, systematically gouging out the eyes of her dolls. "Becky! Stop that! You are ruining your toys!" I couldn't believe it, Becky never did anything like that. I managed to save one doll and I put it high on the dresser where she could not reach it. At bedtime, Becky had me take the doll out of the room. It was difficult to get her to sleep that night. Around 3:00 am, I awoke to muffled sounds coming from Becky's room. I ran in and flicked on the light. The doll was on Becky's chest, stuffing a pair of socks into her mouth! "Oh, my God!" I screamed and threw the doll against the wall, then yanked the socks out of Becky's mouth. I grabbed her to me and took her to my room. I could hear scuffling outside while I dressed. I slammed open the door and with Becky on my hip we hustled out of the house. We went to the Comfort Inn, but we did not sleep. word count: 296 |