Chapter one

Not enough

 

Chapter One:

 

There once was a little girl named Veronica. Veronica Jane Thatcher.

She was a sweet little thing with baby blue eyes and short, strawberry blonde, shoulder length curls, and a small, plain black bow tied in the form of a bow at the top of her head. Veronica dressed in proper clothing; always wore white knee length stockings, a white button up shirt with a high collar, a black skirt, and a pair of black Mary Janes complimenting her tiny feet. Her parents were rich. She had the life only girls could dream of. She had almost all the toys in the world; too many to count.

 

Veronica was quiet. She hardly ever spoke, only when she absolutely had to. She preferred to write in the little black diary her grandmother had given to her on her past ninth birthday. She did everything in that book, but only with the red crayon for which she held a special place in her heart for--she drew pictures, she scribbled nonsense, she even jotted down her deepest, darkest secrets in it, secrets she could tell no one. If she did, she was sure everyone would not take too kindly to them.

 

Ah, yes, even a little girl like Veronica had secrets.

 

These were no ordinary secrets. Oh, no.

 

Not when her secrets involved her father. Not when her secrets involved having daydreams about brutally murdering her next door neighbor, Mrs. Jenkins, for letting her dog, Fee Fee, bite her on the leg when she was merely four years old.

 

The fantasies about her father started two months ago when she was at her grandparent's house. Her grandmother loved to tell her stories about girl's being saved by handsome, young men. The ending in these stories were always happy, Veronica did not like this one factor but she said nothing. She just wanted to hear the stories.

 

This time around, though, her grandmother began to unfold a different kind of story. This story in particular was not about a young woman or a young man, or anything at all having to do with a damsel in distress being saved by a knight and shining armor.

 

It had to do with an old man falling in love with a little girl.

 

Now, some little girls would've thought it weird to hear a story like that, but Veronica did not mind one bit. In fact, she liked it very much. More so than the plain, predictable, stories that she was usually told late at night.

 

"...and so the little girl soon began to fall in love with the old man, too," Grandmother crooned, patted Veronica on her little head. "But the two lovebirds knew they could tell no one." She smiled down at her, and in an even lower voice, she added, "Unless they wanted a death wish".

 

Veronica shivered beneath her covers. She didn't know why but that was her favorite part.

 

She listened, listened, listened, to the story until her eyelids grew heavy and she couldn't stifle a yawn anymore. But not before she heard the ending of the story: The old man and the little girl decided on a suicidal pact. They then drowned themselves in the depths of the body of water nearby their village.

 

She fell asleep with an image of her father in her head. The picture in her head was of her father's big, strong arms enclosing her tiny body, while she leaned up to give him a peck on the mouth. Somehow, she managed to leave behind a bit of blood on his mouth.

 

With this in mind, she had smiled.

 

Things would never be the same again, she knew.

 

This is how she found herself sitting outside of her father’s room now, waiting for him to come out.

 

She waited until the Sun awakened and shined bright. She waited even when her cat, Cookie, nudged her leg and gnawed on her skirt. She was still waiting when her mother came around, a look mixture of disapproval and shock on her face.

 

"My goodness, Veronica!" Her mother gasped, a hand to her chest. "Were you out here...all night?"

 

Veronica nodded but said nothing.

 

Her mother tsked tsked under her breath, shaking her head. "Well, that just won’t do," She said firmly. "Would you care to explain why?"

 

Veronica neither nodded nor said a thing, just stared up at her with wide eyes. Cookie was still at her feet, trying to get a bite out of her skirt.

 

Glaring, her mother said fiercely, "Answer me! Answer me this minute!"

 

Still, Veronica said nothing, but looked down and rubbed the head of her cat.

 

If it was even possible, her mother’s eyes seemed to turn pitch black as she dragged Veronica by the arm and threw her back into her room. "This," She hissed. "Is what happens to bad little girls when they don't obey their mothers!" and then slammed her bedroom door shut. Veronica, lying on the rug of her room, breathing hard, could hear the clicketty clack as her mother retreated back down the hall.

 

When she was sure that she was gone, Veronica sat up and eased her black book from underneath her bed, along with her beloved red crayon.

 

In squiggly, dropping, letters, she wrote in the very back of the book:

 

I don't like mummy anymore, because she interfered with my plans of getting to daddy. It isn’t fair. I wish she were dead.

 

 

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

A very strong first chapter. You had purpose and reason for the characters. The girl is mighty scary. Her desire to hide all her emotion and secret in her book made the story a more interesting tale. I like the flow of this chapter. A strong ending. I will read on.
Coyote

[Cassiopia Summers]

Wow, I never expected that! I shall continue, of course.

[Cytosine]

I can tell this is going to be an interesting story. It doesn't have the "amateur" feel of most writing; it feels like something I'd actually read in a book, and that's probably because you use competent spelling and grammar. I'd like to see some indentation, though.

[Kesha]

Wow I really enjoyed reading this! It sort of reminds me of the movie 'The Orphan' :)

[(JR) Joshua Hernandez]

wow, great story, I like it thumbs up

[Ardeth Lane]

D : Ahh..yeah that gives me chills. The music added to it and kinda, forced you into that mood of..just creepiness. Chills...that's a messed up child.

[Ashley.M.E]

this is a really good beginning well done.

[BeanHead:)]

um first for critisism: if you say that its a bow. do you really need to say that you tied it into a bow? that part is a bit unneccesary. for reference, this is the bit."plain black bow tied in the form of a bow at the top of her head." i like how this story has a freaky twist to it. i really thought you brought the personality to the limit with veronica.surprised at the anger from the mother but it makes the story very intruiging(sorry cant spell).

[Ruth]

Strong character! A powerful chapter! Straight to the point and well written
xx

[Mike O'Sean]

Such sickening feelings from a small girl. the emotion seems too sudden. Shouldn't the girl sit on it for a few days before such affections can be formed?