The Final Gift

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NEW PROMPT:
Write a story or poem about a person who has to get a birthday gift for someone he or she has never met.
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“Mom, why do I have to get a present for her?” Eleven-year-old Mae asked with a distinct whine in her voice. “I don’t even know her.”

Mae’s mother understood her daughter’s feelings since they pretty much mirrored her own. “I know, Sweetie, but you were invited to her party after all.” She once again showed her daughter the invitation. The cream-colored square of parchment simply had printed on it, “Mae is cordially invited to celebrate our daughter’s birthday with her.”

The Sweeney family was new to the area, having moved there only a few weeks earlier. Only the father had made an appearance so far, but everyone knew there were at least two children inside the home. Next-door neighbors recently spotted both a boy and girl peeking out from an upstairs window.

Birdie, for that was the unfortunate nickname Mae’s mother was known by, had a sudden thought. “Don’t you know this girl from school?” When asking this question, Birdie pulled a large package out of a shopping bag. “I don’t even know how old this Sweeney girl is. I hope this will do for a gift.” When she placed the box containing a jigsaw puzzle of 500 pieces on the table, she continued, “If you’re invited, she must be around your age, right?”

Mae shrugged. “There’s nobody new in my class this year. Maybe she’s younger, and they just mixed me up with Anne.” She looked around. “Where’s Anne? She might know this girl.”

“She’s upstairs in her room being punished for lying.” A spasm of anger crossed Birdie’s face at remembering why she was upset with her younger daughter. About a year before, Birdie had remarried, gaining not just a new husband but a stepdaughter. The usual pangs of melding together a blended family erupted that morning in an unexpected way.

She remembered the words her youngest daughter had said, almost in a whisper. “He came into my room last night.”

Birdie tried to put that dreadful sentence out of her mind and concentrated on the mystery of the Sweeney girl. “The party is in an hour, so you’d better put on a clean dress.” She grimaced at seeing her daughter’s present outfit, a T-shirt with ragged jeans. “Now scoot!”

An hour later, Mae walked up the path to the Sweeney home. In her hands was the newly wrapped jigsaw puzzle. When she knocked on the front door, it was immediately opened as if someone was standing on the other side just waiting for her.

“Oh dear,” was her greeting from a frazzled-appearing woman. “My daughter didn’t tell me you were…” The sentence was left unfinished when a boy of around fourteen wandered into the hallway. There was a vague, faraway look in his eyes, and he walked past Mae out the open front door without saying a word.

“Sorry, he got out of his room. I’ll go get him.” This excited comment brought Mae’s attention back from watching the boy as he continued down the pathway. Coming toward her, almost at a run, was a girl more Anne’s age than hers.

A few minutes later, the girl caught up with the boy and quickly brought him back inside the house. They passed Mae as if she was invisible, and she watched them about to disappear into a dark room off the hallway.

“You must excuse us,” said the woman, moving to block Mae’s view of the two children. “The children don’t mean to be rude, but I’m afraid I’ll have to cancel the birthday party.” Without warning, she reached over and took the package from Mae. “I’ll be sure to have her send you a ‘thank you’ note. Goodbye!” Mae found herself being none-too-gently pushed outside, and the door slammed shut in her face.

* * *

This was the last time Mae or anyone else saw these two children. The reason why Mae had been invited to the party would forever remain a mystery. A week after the aborted birthday party, the Sweeney house once again stood empty, the people having moved away in the middle of the night.

“Mae, did you read the story in the paper today?” asked Anne. This was the first time she had spoken to either her sister or mother since being sent to her room as punishment for supposedly lying. Anne had changed from an outgoing child to one withdrawn and rarely speaking.

Before Mae could answer, Birdie asked, “What does it say, Sweetheart?” Anne saw through her mother’s attempt to smooth things over between them with this question. Without another word, she put the newspaper down and left the room.

Shaking her head at her daughter’s continued refusal to take back what she had said about her stepfather, Birdie picked up the abandoned paper. She immediately knew which article Anne had wanted her sister to read.

In big black letters across the top of page one was printed “Bodies of two kidnapped children found.” Upon reading further, she was shocked to read, “The alleged murderers, Raymond and Joyce Sweeney, escaped before the children’s decomposing bodies were discovered in a deserted warehouse.” The last sentence caused her to moan in horror. “Scattered around the children were hundreds of jigsaw pieces. The top cover of the puzzle box showed a tranquil scene of children at play in a field of wildflowers.”

Her thoughts were interrupted when Mae came to peer at the newspaper over her shoulder. Birdie tried to hide the paper from her daughter, but Mae was too quick and was able to read part of the article.

“Mom, are those the kids I told you about from next door?” When Birdie wordlessly nodded, Mae asked another question, “Was the birthday party invitation a way to lure me in to be kidnapped by them?”

That question stayed unanswered since Raymond and Joyce Sweeney were never caught.

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

ID: 1469802   (Rated: 18+) An Unexpected Gift  This is set three years after "A Life Lesson Learned" and one year after "A Final Gift." by J. A. Buxton

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Microsoft Word count = 976

"The Writer's Cramp"  daily entry for 09/02/08
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