"Vanishing"

“I can’t wait to get home!” Lucia cried with happiness. She twirled her lemon yellow hair around her finger.

“And how come you’re so excited to get home?” Her mother questioned as she slowed down to a red light.

“Because of Clover! I want to see my baby!” She smiled at her mother happily. Her mother smiled back at her through her mirror. She was glad that Lucia was happy. Lucia’s eyes looked out the window. Images of her baby flowed through her mind.

“The first thing I have to do it brush her and then give her treats,” she whispered to herself. She imagined picking up her newborn calico kitten. She would then press her nose to her little black and pink nose and would nuzzle her. Clover, usually, meowed and would want to be held next, like an infant. She was the friendly sort of kitten, loving and very affectionate to strangers. She could shine her beautiful green eyes at you and make you want to pick her up and stoke her.

Lucia sighed with happiness. Clover was a blessing to her. She loved her fur color, which was a mixture of creamy white, a bay brown, and a smoky black. The pattern was so beautiful and so mesmerizing, you just had to touch her. But once you felt her coat there was no going back, her fur was silky smooth. Silky and addicting. The car strolled onto the rocky driveway. Lucia quickly got out and started calling for her baby.

“Clover! Clover…!” Lucia waited. Her little one was an outside kitten. Her mother couldn’t have her living inside the house because of her asthma. So during the day the precious kitty spent her time outside. When the sun began to set Lucia would call her in and let her sleep in the enclosed front porch.

“Clover?!” Lucia shrilled. “Where are you?” Lucia turned to her mother as she shut her car door and locked it.

“Mom, I can’t find Clover.” She moaned to her.

“Give her some time; you know how slow she is.” Her mother gave her another smile. Lucia smiled slightly back when all of a sudden something caught her eye.

“Clover!” She cried running over to the porch steps.

“I’ve been calling for you missy! How come-” Lucia stopped short after she heard her kitten meowed.

“Mom!” Lucia called. “I think Clover’s sick!” She walked closer to the steps. As each step that she took her eyes went wide.

“Clover… what… what happened?” She whimpered. Clover shockingly came out from under the steps. She limped, one of her beautiful green eyes was shut and slightly bleeding, while the other one was barely open. Blood dripped down from her now black nose and from her furry mouth. She was covered in dirt. She cried a miserable meow to her Lucia, the cry sounded like pain.

“MOM!” Lucia screamed as she ran toward her injured baby. Her mother looked and dropped her stuff immediately. She came and dropped to her knees beside her daughter. Lucia’s eyes were now watered, tears streamed down her face.

“My baby’s hurt Momma, she’s hurt… we’ve got to do something Momma. Help her.” Lucia cried. Her mother bent down and scooped Clover up with carefulness.

“Go to your gam gam’s house now. And wait until I call you.” Her mother ordered.

“Where are you taking her?” She spun around and stood there. She watched as her mother placed Clover in the passenger’s seat and placed a blanket on top of her.

“To the veterinarian’s clinic babe, now go. Make sure you look both ways before crossing the street.” She watched her Mom pull out of the driveway and quickly drove down the avenue. Lucia cried as she ran across the path and into her grandmother’s house.

“Gam Gam!” she cried with agony. Her grandmother was in the living room reading the newspaper. Lucia ran to her and threw her arms around her neck. For the next hour her grandmother tried her best to calm her down after she sobbed through her short story.

“She’s probably going to be ok honey… no I take that back…. she is going to be ok.” She kissed her forehead. For a minute there she believed her grandmother and began to settle down. She rocked her back and forth slightly and kept smoldering her forehead with kisses, holding her tightly and lovingly. The next minute the phone rang. Lucia quickly jumped out of her grandmothers arms and stood by the phone. Her grandmother picked up the receiver and became silent. Another minute passed and she handed the phone to Lucia.

“It’s your mother,” her grandmother gave her a small smile. She grabbed the phone quickly,

“Mommy?” Lucia asked happily. “How is she?”

She heard her mother’s breathing. “Mommy?”

“Lucia, Clover is here. The doctors have seen her… um… but baby…” her mother trailed off.

“What is it?” A sudden wave of sickness came over her.

“The doctors tried their best baby…. They tried…. But sadly… it was too late…she… she didn’t make it…”

Lucia ‘s eyes watered within seconds. She continued to hold the phone to her ear, but yet she didn’t say a word. All she could think of was... her baby was gone; her baby that she just gotten last week.

“What happened Mommy?” she sniffled.

“The doctors say she was beaten to death by someone or hit by a car. But if she was hit by a car she would’ve died on the spot because she’s so little. The doctors are assuming she was beaten. I’m sorry honey…”

With that she handed the phone to her grandmother and walked away. She headed out the door and under the gazebo, where she sat down upon her swing and began to wail. Images flew about her mind. Her precious little angle was no longer here on earth. She wasn’t even a year old; she was still just an infant. Who could’ve been so cruel? Who could have a heart like that? Whoever did, had no heart at all.

The sound of a door opened. Lucia looked up to see her grandmother coming down the ramp. She came over to her and squat down to her height and looked into her painful eyes.

“I, um, have more bad news baby girl.” Her grandmother whispered softly.

“What else could be bad?” she whispered back trembling.

“I just got off of the phone with Mrs. Wiley, our Uncle Freddy just passed away.”

She bit her lip. Uncle Freddy, her dear sweet uncle that cared for her so much. He was so kind and generous. She knew him ever since she was little. He was her great grandfather’s best friend in the world, just like he was to her. She dipped her head in misery. Everything and everyone that she had or knew was vanishing it seemed.

“Why is everything suddenly dying around me?” she wept to her grandmother. “Why?”