When She's Home

When She’s Home

                Mrs. Shenzhen sat at her kitchen counter, her head buried deep in the bend of her elbow, her face raw from tears, and her husband's hand resting lightly on her shoulder. Thirty-nine hours ago, she arrived home late from work, and found the note from her twelve-year old daughter, Lindsay, "Although frozen dinners are delicious, Going to a friend's for dinner!J"  She hadn’t had any communication with her since. Through the earlier hours of the morning, Mrs. Shenzhen heard, through hushed voices, whispered between her husband and the police chief, that after the first forty-eight hours, the chance of finding your child decreases crucially; Nine hours left. The kitchen bustled with hefty men, clothed in thick police uniforms, checking their phones and responding to the never-ending pages of robberies, assaults, and what-ever other chaos the sick psychopaths of the world create. After many phone calls, and a lot of hair pulling, Mrs. Shenzhen had all the information she needed, to know her daughter was missing. She found out Lindsay had planned to eat dinner at her friend Melanie's house, and after she failed to show up, Melanie's mother called Lindsay's home phone and left a voicemail wondering if Lindsay’s plans had changed.  No one had heard anything from Lindsay since that afternoon.

"Excuse me, Miss." One of the younger police officers stood to her right, “I understand this is a hard time, however I need you to repeat one more time what happened the night your daughter went missing."  Lifting her heavy head, Mrs. Shenzhen sighed loudly and pushed off the counter, “I understand, I do, but I would really appreciate it if I can be left alone." she replied, exhausted. She had taken enough questioning from the police officers in the past two days than she preferably would have liked to ever have in her life time.

                "This will only take a minute, Ma'am" the young police officer stated bossily.

                With eyes like daggers, "I said I would like my solitude!" she responded sharply, slamming her fists onto the counter. The young police officer flinched, eyes wide, and murmured apologies for his disruption. She surveyed his retreating figure, his thick brown hair stuck to his sweaty forehead, and signs of exhaustion shadowed his face.  After a few moments, she realized she wasn’t the only one battered and sighed in defeat.

                 "I'm sorry, it just seems so hard for you to understand, and it’s too hard for anyone to understand. As I have stated MANY times before, I came home, near 9:30pm and found this note left at the counter over there," She pointed, "and was immediately concerned when I heard the voicemail left by Melanie's mother. I called my husband who was out of town that night, to see if Lindsay had called him. He had not heard from her, so I instantly called the police, and spoke to the Chief”, she took a breath, “That is all that happened, I swear to you.” She finished her voice breaking. He quickly jotted down something on his notepad, and thanked her, before scurrying away. And just when Mrs. Shenzhen started walking towards the kitchen, to tell her husband she was going to go upstairs to rest for a few minutes, her legs started shaking, and her knees buckled beneath her. A small scream escaped her, as she felt the impact of the tiled floors punch her into unconsciousness.

                A series of short and long beeps awoke Mrs. Shenzhen into the reality of the steady pulses beating into her head, and her lips crying for dampness. "She isn’t fully conscious; her head really took the intensity of the fall." A deep male voice echoed through the room.

"I understand, how long do you think it will be before she can fully interpret what is going on?"

"We’ve spoken about this Mr. Shenzhen, on many instances, it could be hours, days, months, and I don't have enough of the tests completed to fully analyze her condition."

"I understand, thank you Doctor." Mr. Shenzhen responded, before slouching into the stiff chair, set out specifically for him, it was his bed, food tray, and recliner, every time he visited. He had grown to have relations with the medics in the hospital, and became familiar with the surroundings: the vending machines on the second floor, the sitting room down the hallway; he knew every gift shop in this hospital and knew the location of every bathroom. The silence filled the stale air, exhaustion lay on Mr. Shenzhen’s shoulders as he closed his eyes, when a loud choking sound exploded from the hospital bed next to him, and he frantically glanced over and saw Mrs. Shenzhen’s body moving violently with a series of coughs.

“NURSE, NURSE!” Mr. Shenzhen shouted, rushing to her side, “Dear, are you okay?” he questioned, frightened by the first noises he’s heard from her in a long time.

“LINDSAY!” Mrs. Shenzhen screamed her voice hoarse. “WHERE IS LINDSAY?” Confused and terrified of his wife’s outbursts, Mr. Shenzhen gripped her hand tightly, for his own support.

“Honey. You’re back.” He responded as calmly as he could manage, perplexed greatly “Who is Lindsay?”

A doctor came rushing in, followed by a multitude of nurses.

“Grab the sedatives!” the doctor ordered, then proceeded to the side of the hospital bed, and grasped Mrs. Shenzhen’s open hand. Mrs. Shenzhen’s body was now trembling, tears streaming down her face.

“It is all right Miss, we are here for you, now please, take a deep breath.” The doctor responded. Mrs. Shenzhen’s sobs echoed loudly throughout the room, before decreasing in volume, into only soft chokes for air. The doctor walked calmly to the sink, pouring her a glass of water, and bringing it to her dry lips. She swallowed a few gulps, and shakily spoke, “My daughter, where is my daughter?”

A gasp came from one of the nurses, and Mr. Shenzhen’s eyes widened, darting his head towards the doctor, analyzing his reaction. Their eyes in contact, the doctor nodded his head in acceptance; he had expected this to occur.

“Mrs. Shenzhen,” he spoke evenly, “you’re confused, you’ve been away for a long time.”

Mrs. Shenzhen’s mouth opened into a circle the size of a quarter, before an agonizing wail escaped her., “What happened? Where is Lindsay? Where is she? I know she’s here. Is she okay?” she repeated weeping, her shoulders shaking.

Turning to Mr. Shenzhen, the doctor gripped him by the elbow, and stared straight into his eyes, “I’m afraid she’s lost part of her reasoning. I’m sorry, but her condition may be a lot worse than we anticipated. She believes she has a daughter, she’s created an entirely different life imaginative inside her head.” Mr. Shenzhen stood straight retaining the information, and then turned from the doctor, his shoulders only then trembling. Walking back to his wife he spoke gently “Honey, you’re sick, you’ve been in the hospital for a very long time, we do not have a daughter, and I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” tears dampening his face as he struggled with the words.

“I know I do, I know I do!” Mrs. Shenzhen argued, “She was missing! Did you find her? Where is my baby?” she sobbed. Then miraculously, Mrs. Shenzhen turned her head toward the window and saw Lindsay napping on the chair, and she felt a weight lift from her shoulders. “SHE’S THERE! SHE’S RIGHT THERE!” she exclaimed pointing to the window. But no one else saw what she saw, only a bare window, opened slightly agape, a faint breeze blowing in, the curtains dancing with the wind. The room full of perplexed nurses, a strained husband, and a doctor, whom should know it all but, was stuck at a fork in the road; all stood staring at the empty space and Mrs. Shenzhen finger pointed, her smiling face glinting in the sunlight. No one spoke a word, as Mrs. Shenzhen’s hand stood midair, as if taunting the melancholy room, guiding them to emptiness. There was no one there, and never had been. Her imagination had created everything, and the only reality, was the constant of her condition, her illness damaging her mind. Mr. Shenzhen took a tentative step towards his wife, and reached out to push her hand down, but when he made contact with her skin she screamed, and screamed, pleading for them to look at Lindsay. Her screams echoed throughout the room, and traveled through every hallway, filling each crevice in the sad, lifeless infirmary. Her husband dropped his hand, and broke down then; crying, begging her to stop, but only when a series of nurses tranquilized her with a sedative shot did at last the noise stopped. However, to this day, they say her blood curdling shrieks can still be heard ricocheting off the sterilized walls, begging, pleading, for the patients to note of her daughter, Lindsay.

               

 

Author's Note

Enjoy :)

Reviews

[Patrick Henry]

Tough little story!! Any mom, parent, and/or friend who has lost a loved one in such a way finds it tough to get over, and no simple "Move on!" will work so readily. : ) The introduction to the story was the only thing that threw me off with what felt like a run-on sentence in a way and then the ""Although frozen dinners are delicious, Going to a friend's for dinner!J" ".... only because I don't know what the "J" at the end means. : ) Great story... secretly wishing there was a part 2 to this right now!! : ) xox -Mark

[MandaBear]

Wow, what an ending. You really know how to keep your readers on the edge of their seats. I hope one day this becomes a book its too good not to be! 100%

[Anna]

Aw thank you that means a lot :)

[C.A. Lucas]

Amazing! Breathtaking! Fantastic! Perfect! Worthy of publication! How else could I describe this grand story of yours? It's just great. There was a good problem in the beginning, and it somewhat captivated me. I saw then that the writing was great! Your word choice, your flow, it was simply perfect. I was shocked when she woke up and they all proved her to be insane. At the end I felt special to have been in her mind, her world of insanity. Or is everyone else insane? Apparently, the majority rules and if more people are like this, then the ones that are like are crazy, or evil, or the alien. When in reality, they may be the aliens. Anyway, besides a few minor errors, this was a great enjoyable story that is worthy of anyone's pride. This could be one of the two pieces for school, but it's the first one I've read :)

[Anna]

All your reviews made me laugh or smile! Thank you CA Lucas for taking time to review my work :) Now that your done, do you really think this should be one of the two?

[C.A. Lucas]

Yes, I do :) And your welcome

[Lozzie]

THSI IS REALLY GOOD!!! Liek Nora said this would be a great book :) Well done!!

[Anna]

Aww thank you!! :)

[Bella Luna]

This was so thought provoking and so well written! It's such a twist to find out the whole thing was in her head and the ending was very chilling!

[Anna]

Thanks a lot I appreciate it :)

[Westminster Abbey]

Creepy. I wish you would take this further. I could really see this as being a book, a mothers journey to find her daughter. I would certainly buy it! But, alas, it is only a story. Although I do wish there were more to it, what you have written is nevertheless breathtaking! 100/100

[Anna]

Aww thank you! I had never considering pursuing this until now! Thanks :)

[The Fallen]

Oh my. This caught me from the moment I started reading! It was amazing, I actually thought she had a daughter and then when her husband explained that she didn't I had to read over the whole thing. The ending was creey,... I really happen to like this and I totally agree with Nora on the fact that you could make a book out of this!

[Anna]

Aww thanks :) I really appreciate it!

[Dark Rider]

This was very good. I love the details, and the twist at the end where she was really just imagining everything that has happened. Nice job. :)

[Anna]

Thanks :)

[Dark Rider]

You're welcome. :)

[gombeggar]

interesting story...think u should lengthen it cuz i think there's more story here that would be nice if u explored it and fattened it up, filled it out more

[Anna]

Haha well thanks, i'll think about it! :)

[Felicity's Eve]

Wow. O.O

You could make a book out of this and I can assure you that it would be a bestseller!!! :D

Very captivating and creepy at the end. Just as you intended, no? ;)

Great work!

Hey! Why has no one reviewed this yet? >:( It's awesome! :D

*off to send read requests now* ^^

[Anna]

Aw thank you so much :D Idk to tell you the truth, I venture towards reviewing poems more than stories, but thanks this really made me smile :')

[Felicity's Eve]

:)