I Love You, Mommy

From Beneath the Midnight Sun

It rained heavily as a set of headlights merged into view. Mellissa steered with her left hand; with her right hand she held onto a little girl that appeared to be unconscious or even worse--dead. “Ev’rything will be just fine, baby girl. Soon, it’ll be just fine.” Mellissa stroked the little girl’s hair as she lay unresponsively at Mellissa’s side.

 

            “Mellissa, I can only imagine the years of torment that you have gone through,” Kimberly explained as Mellissa sat evenly while absorbing every word. And by torment, Kimberly referred to a heartrending loss--one that no parent should ever have to experience. “I have a terrific idea! Why don’t you start a daycare? It works perfectly on two levels. You need the money and plus it would be therapeutic. Mellissa, your doctor said you have to get on with your life. Don’t you think it’s time?”

            Mellissa responded with a slight tremble in her voice that suggested uneasiness, apart from being demoralized, “Yeah, um, sure…sounds great.” It was clear her mind was somewhere

else. “It’s just that today’s the day.”

            “The day?”

            “Yeah, the day.”

            “Oh, yeah, the day…got it.” Kimberly paused for a second. “So, it’s been five years today, huh?”

            Five years! That’s a very long time for a person to harbor a secret. And that’s just what Mellissa had been doing. She had everyone fooled, including herself. And if a person can believe

their own lies then they pretty much converted deceit into reality.

            Kimberly continued to ramble as Mellissa had another flashback. Only this time it was more vivid.

 

            She ransacked through the trunk and pulled out a shovel. She held it upright and gaped at it intensely like a vulture does before it devours its prey. “This will definitely do the job.” That being said, she wasted no time. As the rain continued to beat down, she dug. And she kept digging until the hole was knee deep. However, with all the rain, it became a mudslide. It didn’t matter. Mellissa dragged the poor girl from the car and rolled her lifeless body down the hole covering her with all the mud that remained.

 

            “Mellissa. Earth to Mellissa.”

            “It’s just that a daycare seems awfully expensive.”

            “Don’t worry, sugar. My brother has a building that’s fully furnished. I know he’ll let you use it. He’s such a sweetheart…ahem…pushover. Plus, you have exceptional credit. Getting a loan would be a cinch for you.”

            But still, Mellissa thought about that fatal night. She took her own daughter’s life. And still, to this day, Megan (Mellissa’s daughter) is listed as a missing kid--another Unsolved Mystery.

            Therefore, Mellissa considered it to be a very bad idea. “No…I’ll pass.” The way she saw it: being around all those small children (innocent and defenseless prey) would only provoke her to kill again. She had a horrible disease. Nevertheless, she kept it well hidden from all those who sympathized for her most of all. Even so, it’s been such a long time and the beast inside her lay dormant--clawing through her inner soul with an appetite for destruction.

            She gave it one last thought and decisively commended that it was a wonderful idea. “Yeah, I’ll do it. Did you say you’ll help me set things up?”

            “I’ll be your biggest supporter, sugar.”

            “Awesome. Can’t wait to get started.”

 

            Several weeks had passed and Rainbow Daycare was well underway.

 

            There was this one particular little girl named Susie that became a nuisance to Mellissa more than anything. And she always carried a doll around with her she called Missy Wet Pants. She claimed the doll could talk if she could only find some batteries to put inside her. But Mellissa was always too busy to pay her any mind. She ignored her at all costs.

 

            One sad day, Missy Wet Pants came up missing. Mellissa told Susie that she’d look for her--(just to shut her up). And it worked--for a little while. After a week, Susie started pestering

Mellissa, asking her if she had found her dolly. “No…not yet…still looking,” Mellissa would jest. That bought her another week.

 

            Then one night, after a long stressful day of overseeing a community of children, Mellissa came home to relax. However, she was disgusted to find that her house was infested with cockroaches. It must be the neighbors, Mellissa thought. They had just moved out and they were very unsanitary.

            Cockroaches need food for survival. They need a host to feed them and house them. Therefore, when their current food supply runs dry they go to what’s closest to them. Unfortunately for Mellissa, it was her. And Mellissa absolutely refused to live that way.

            Immediately, she found the number to a RID-X company in the yellow pages and called them. They did an over-the-phone consultation and concluded that with an infestation as

severe as hers they would have to set up a tent and bomb her house, which could take several days, maybe even weeks. They asked her if she had someplace she could stay--“A family

member or friend?”

            Her family lived two states over and Kimberly was always busy with bringing different men into her house. But then she remembered the daycare center. “It has beds for naptime. That would be the perfect place to stay.” Mellissa would send the children home, close up, and settle in for a night all to herself. She even had a huge flat panel television set with unlimited digital cable. Life was good.

 

            It was her first night. Mellissa tossed and turned as she dreamed about that fatal night. She was saturated in a cold sweat and wrapped tightly in her sheets. She moaned as she suddenly awoke to a small voice that said, “Mommy…I love you, Mommy.” She wasn’t sure if she was fully awake or still dreaming so she lay there and waited to see if the voice would continue. And it did. This time it was a short cry followed by a small burst of laughter. “Mommy…I love you, Mommy.” Mellissa crawled out of bed and backed away from it slowly. The voice wouldn’t stop. It continued in an ominous pattern. Mellissa questioned her sanity. Am I going mad? Is it Megan…Megan’s ghost haunting me? What the hell is going on?

            About that time (as tension built) there was a loud pounce at the front door. Mellissa jolted from the paranoia she had accrued and shook with fear.

            She answered the door and it was Kimberly. Still, Mellissa shook like a leaf on a tree. “What’s wrong with you, sugar? Looks like you’ve seen a ghost.”

            “You have no idea.” After a short pause, Mellissa spilled the beans. “I did it.” Her voice was soft, yet shaky.

            “You did what?”

            “I killed her. I buried her on Mathis Lane.”

            “What are you talking about, Mellissa?” Kimberly’s tone was very callous.

            “My daughter. My own flesh and blood. My God, I killed her.” Mellissa rambled in fragments. Her thought process, choppy.

            “And why are you telling me? Why confess now?”

            “She’s come back. Her ghost. She’s after me. In there.”

            Mellissa pointed toward the room she was frightened out of.

            “Stay here. Don’t go anywhere. You hear me. I’ll be right back.” Kimberly said as she went to investigate.

            Kimberly heard the same voice but didn’t act near as frightened as Mellissa did. She was fearless and went straight to the source. She got on all fours and lifted the flounce while peeking underneath the bed.

            Mellissa did as she was told--she waited.

            In a shaken frenzy, Mellissa heard the voice draw nearer. It wasn’t in her mind. The sound was much too real to be imagined. Kimberly slowly approached her overly frightened friend and came to a complete halt. Missy Wet Pants was cradled ever-so-delicately in her arms. “Mommy…I love you, Mommy.”

Author's Note

Reformatted for this post so look over errors.

Reviews

[Marie]

Well I didn't find any errors. It's a pretty good, grisly ghost story.

[Billy Van]

Why thank you, ma'am.