A Life Lesson Learned

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NEW PROMPT:
It's hard to believe Writing.Com is eight years old already!
Write a story or poem about an eight year old's birthday party where an unexpected guest makes an appearance. What happens next?
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“Where’s my birthday girl?” a loud, booming voice called out, causing the child to jump up in delight.

Mae raced toward the man standing at the open kitchen door, crying out as she ran, “Poppy, you came.” Unnoticed by both of them, young Anne silently tip-toed in the opposite direction to hide behind the large iron stove. She peeked out to see her father lifting her older sister high into the air.

“Well,” said Mae’s mother, disgust fairly dripping from her voice, “what brings you around today? Just in the neighborhood with your new family?” The divorce three years before still left a bitter taste in her mouth.

“Now, Birdie, be nice!” Mae’s father put his oldest daughter back on the floor after giving her a big last hug. “Evie’s waiting out in the car. I just wanted to come by for a few minutes to give this to Mae.” He pulled a long, narrow box out of his jacket pocket.

When he knelt on the floor before Mae, his younger daughter came out a few inches from behind the stove. She watched her sister eagerly grab the box and rip off the gaily decorated wrapping paper. Anne’s eyes opened wide in surprise when she saw the string of pearls Mae took out of the box. Never in her short life had she seen anything so beautiful as that delicate necklace. I wonder if he has a present for me, too. Anne hoped he would call out for her soon and wondered to herself what her present would be. She had turned five the week before, and he had missed her birthday as he had every one in the years since the divorce. Maybe this year he’ll remember me, too.

For the next half hour or so, Mae’s father concentrated his full attention on his oldest daughter. He praised her endlessly as her excited words fell over each other while telling him all she’d done since he last saw her a year ago. Forgotten was the woman standing nearby, still annoyed with her ex-husband for calling her by that stupid nickname of Birdie. Not even noticed by the man was the small child still hiding behind the large stove.

Maybe he’ll ask where I am, Anne thought wistfully. She didn’t even feel the shed tears sliding down her pale cheeks. While listening to her father and sister laughing only feet away from her, Anne didn’t understand the almost overpowering loneliness she was feeling. When Mae stops talking, he’ll come looking for me, he really will.

She started crawling out from behind the stove when she heard her father making his good-byes and preparing to leave. She wasn’t fast enough, though. When she managed to get to her feet, she saw the back door closing and heard her father going down the outside steps. Running to the kitchen window, she watched him get inside a car parked in their driveway.

As the car containing her father, his new wife, and three-year-old son drove off into the distance, she realized what her sister had told her must be true. During one of their rare sibling fights weeks earlier, Mae had taunted her little sister with the reason their father had left them.

“You were such an ugly baby and always crying,” Mae had said, unaware or simply not caring about the cruelty in her words. “Poppy couldn’t stand the sight of you any more, and that’s why he divorced us.”

That summer day as Anne stood in the middle of the kitchen, Mae’s words swirled around her brain. Poppy left ‘cause I was too ugly went deeper and deeper into her subconscious until they took root to explain why her father didn’t want to see her.

* * *

That birthday for her eight-year-old sister, together with the unexpected visitor, was the turning point that changed Anne forever. During the rest of her life, she would think of herself as too ugly for anyone to love her.

When she was a freshman in high school, a friend’s grandmother finally told Anne the truth about her parents’ divorce. The old lady whispered, as if sharing a sinful secret only she knew, “Your mom came home unexpectedly from work one afternoon to find your dad in bed with Evelyn Sterling. She and her husband lived next door to all of you back then.” The grandmother stopped here to judge Anne’s reaction, and then continued at seeing only a blank look on the teenager’s face. “Your dad quickly deserted your mother and you two girls to fend for yourselves. We learned he married Evelyn only days after his divorce came through.”

Observing Anne’s shocked expression when this knowledge finally penetrated, the grandmother decided she had said enough. Only later did Anne learn her father had a son, more valuable in the man’s mind than mere daughters, who was born two months after the wedding.

By that time, however, learning the truth about her parents’ divorce came too late. The damage had already been done.

The second part of this story continues in the following entry:

ID: 1469514   (Rated: 18+) The Final Gift  This is set three years after my "A Life Lesson Learned" short story by J. A. Buxton

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Microsoft Word count = 840

"The Writer's Cramp"  daily entry for 09/01/08
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