Adopted

Adopted
by Kelli Norris

“… AMBER ALERT! … four year old… abducted from Wildcat Park… last seen wearing a white dress with blue…”

Lilly heard the television through her sleep but it sounded faint and far away. It was so hard to focus on it. Fighting her way to consciousness was like trying to climb out of a pool full of molasses. Her head was too heavy and it was difficult for her to hold it up. When she did, the room went swimmy and her tummy felt sick.

She was scared, confused and soon fear overtook illness in these unfamiliar surroundings. Mommy? She tried to cry for help but it came out as a barely perceptible croak. She crawled out of bed and stood on trembling legs, looking around the dark room.

The walls were stacked high with cardboard boxes and trash. Empty bottles and dirty dishes littered the counter and tabletops. The whole place reeked of stale smoke and sweat. Lilly wrinkled her nose and breathed through her mouth.

Lilly started to run to the toys, but stopped at once. OWWWW! OW! OW! There was a horrible shooting pain between her legs every time she took a step. She had to take baby-steps to the corner where a pile of stuffed animals were tossed. She half-laid, half-collapsed beside a big teddy bear and buried her little face in his fluffy fur.

“MEOW!”

Kitty-cat? Lilly got up and inched her way over to the window. She used a box to climb on and pulled herself up to the windowsill. She peered through the grimy glass straight into the big blue eyes of a beautiful Siamese. Lilly was so excited she tried to speak, but her poor ravaged throat was so raw a small squeak was all she managed.

###

Kitty?

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Get away from that window! How many times do I have to tell you?” screamed the man, entering from outside.

His arms were full of groceries, so he kicked Lilly hard and she went flying. The mean man was always hitting and kicking her, especially when the woman wasn’t around. Lilly kept forgetting about the window. She couldn’t understand why she wasn’t allowed to look outside. She lay cowering on the floor shaking, too scared to move or even make a sound.

“Jim please, you’re going to hurt her. She was just watching for that stray cat,” said the woman.

“I’m going to do more than hurt her if you don’t keep her away from that damn window, Sheila. Do you want to get caught? You know what happens if she is seen.”

“I know, you are right. I just don’t want her to hate me. I love her so much,” Sheila said, about to cry.

“Look babe, I know how much you have always wanted one, that’s why I got you the little snot, but it’s risky this way. We have to be careful.”

Sheila nodded that she understood.

“I’m going to bring in the rest of the groceries,” Jim said, heading to the door.

“Alright Jim,” Sheila replied, reaching for Lilly.

Jim opened the door and Lilly saw her chance. GO! RUN NOW!! She darted past the man so quick he stumbled and fell grabbing for her. She ran fast as her little legs could carry her not even looking where she was going, just running blind. She could hear the man yelling at her.

“GET YOUR ASS BACK IN HERE! I’M GOING TO BEAT YOU…”

She stretched her legs as far as they would go, reaching the limits of her short little stride. She was too scared to look behind her. She put her head down and pumped faster, trying frantically to increase the distance between herself and the angry man.

“SCR-EEEEEE-CH!”

Lilly just had time to register the squeal of tires before her world went forever black. The Hummer skidded to a halt. Half a second later a teenage girl jumped from behind the steering wheel, in a panic.

“OH MY GOD-- OH MY GOD! I COULDN’T STOP! I tried.. I tried, I swear to God I tried… I just couldn’t stop in time. ” The girl fell to her knees and puked in the middle of the street.

Jim stopped when he reached the road and tried to catch his breath. It was too late. There was nothing he could do.

“Jim?” Sheila asked, coming up behind him. Jim ran over and embraced his wife, trying to shield her from the carnage. “Oh no, please…”

Sheila saw the skid marks, her eyes growing wide. When she saw the blood-splatter she burst into tears. Jim held her tight and stroked her hair doing his best to console her.

“Shhh,” he soothed.

That made her cry worse. She sidestepped him, and looked at the accident. She screamed. Lilly was smeared all over the road. Sticky bits of fur and bone were wedged in the tread of the tires, and congealing blood dripped slowly from the vehicle’s grill forming a small puddle on the ground. Most of her tiny body was smashed under the front tire, an exploding spray of entrails forming a half circle around the corpse, but her little head was lying against the curb.

Jim turned Sheila’s back to the scene, begging her to stop crying. “Please, baby. I promise we will get another one, don’t cry.”

“You hated her!” Sheila sobbed.

“I didn’t hate her,” he lied. “She was great.”

I’m just glad we never paid the pet deposit. He thought to himself.

(923 Words)