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Chapter 23
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That Night in the Woods Chapter 24
Olivia The aroma of freshly cooked scrambled eggs made me drool while I waited for the chicken sausage to get a brownish color so I could plate it for Tracy. She sat on the sofa, gazing at her laptop screen. I was curious to know what it was that caught her interest like that. It was nearly the time when Mary usually arrives and I leave for work. I placed the sausages on a plate. As I picked it up from the counter my eyes caught Tracy pressing her palm tightly against her chest. Seeing her struggle to draw in oxygen took my breath away. It felt as if something stuck in my throat. I threw the plate right where I stood and ran to her. She was on her knees now, shedding tears and still striving to breathe. My whole world was falling apart. Suddenly my brain went blank. We were lucky that Mary walked in. "Mary, help!", I wheezed. I picked her up and rushed into the parking to drive her to the hospital. Tracy was taken to the ICU. I didn't know what I would do without my baby. She is
That Night in the Woods Chapter 25
Olivia Sunday 24th June 1990 We were having the time of our lives. Alyssa's fifth birthday was right around the corner when she desired to go to Hawaii. She didn't say that she wanted to go to Hawaii. Last Friday, we were sitting on the patio after dinner. I rested my head on the armchair's backrest, with one hand over my bloated stomach, holding back a burp because mom taught us that it was discourteous to let out a loud belch around people. I couldn't help cramming that delicious salmon and sweet potato wedges in my mouth. Dad swiped through the images of travel destinations on his tablet, racking his brain that what will be our destination for the family vacation. We go on vacation twice every year. On my and Alyssa's birthday then Mom and Dad's birthday each year alternatively. While he was swiping through photos of some of the eye-catching places in Hawaii, Alyssa, who was dangling over the armrest of Dad's chair, pointed at one of the pictures and screamed with excitement, "I
That Night in the Woods Chapter 26
Noah It had been over a month since Olivia yanked my heart out of my chest and chopped it into a million pieces. It still is divided into a million pieces that I have scattered now. I wasn't prepared to believe her. My mind wasn't ready to believe this atrocious truth. I just wanted to sleep. I didn't want to feel anything. I didn't want to feel this air engulfing me. This mushy bed, I was sitting on. The body my soul dwelled in. I just wanted to stop. Stop feeling everything. Every time I hear her words heat of anguish arises in my body and soul. The fury takes over. I couldn't control myself when it happened two weeks ago. I slammed the door shut pounding my head over it, expecting the physical pain to put an end to that agony inside of me. It didn't go away. I smacked the glass window with my bare hands until the shards of glass punctured my hand. It still didn't go away. It won't ever go away. I wanted to do it again. I wanted to hurt myself for believing she existed. I wanted t
That Night in the Woods Chapter 27
OLIVIA 13th August, Monday, 1990 My eyes opened up to the beams of sunlight crashing in through the window. Alyssa was still asleep. I got to my feet and drew the curtains shut so that she did not wake up by the bright light. The clock struck nine in the morning. My stomach was grumbling. I didn’t have dinner last night. I could eat a horse and still be famished. I opened the door and shut it gently as I walked out of the room. My eyes caught dad grinning from ear to ear, holding moms hands, leaning over the kitchen countertop. I rubbed my eyes hard and widened them to make sure it wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t! My heart did a backflip. I was euphoric that he was back. And he was alright. At least physically there was no visible damage. He has been gone for a long time. “You look ravishing, honey.” Dad’s smile widened.”I missed you girls.” I sprinted into the kitchen and hugged dad from the back. “I missed you too dad. Where have you been?” I asked him. He turned around and hugged
That Night in the Woods Chapter 28
NOW OLIVIA Tracy gazed at a band of white light over which sat a cluster of uncountable stars. As I ran my eyes down from the top, the dark blue tint altered into a dull purple. With descending height the hues kept on changing, from purple to a rose beige to the lightest shade of yellow. All of that sat over a dark tone of the blue-greyish background. The Milkyway band before our eyes walked as slow as a person stuck in quicksand. We were in a planetarium. They cast a Milkyway band over the ceiling, which appeared domed, tricking everyone’s eyes that it was real. I found it fascinating that humans were able to see what lies light years away. And the accurate projection of it was spectacular. It was one of the items on Tracy’s bucket list, to go stargazing. Even though doctors said that we could, I was paranoid. I didn’t want to risk her life by taking her more than a hundred miles away from the hospital to a star-gazing sight. Her condition has gotten worse as compared to the week
That Night in the Woods Chapter 29
NOWNOAHElla lay curled up in bed. A white mushy blanket wrapped around her, eyes squeezed shut. I drew open the curtains and went back outside to grab the breakfast tray and bouquet of roses, which I ordered this morning. Holding the tray in one hand and flowers behind my back with the other, I gushed, “good morning WiFi!”She wrinkled her nose, cheeks raised up, a pout on her face with a hint of a smile.“No,” Ella shook her head, “No.”“No?” I asked.“Yeah--no.” She let out a chuckle.“I thought you’d like some breakfast in bed, with a thing I got here in the back.” I raised an eyebrow and beamed at her. “About the WiFi thing silly.” I knew she was talking about the ‘WiFi’ thing. I adored how my cringe pet names wrinkled her nose every time. She rested her back against the bed’s headboard, still enveloped in the blanket. I placed the tray before her, in which sat a stack of perfectly cooked souffle pancakes. Perfectly cooked according to her, overcooked in my opinion. She love
That Night in the Woods Chapter 30
OLIVIA20 years ago“When your parents tell you to back off, you back off Olivia!” mom scolded me with one hand on her waist and the other holding her phone.“But--““I don’t want to hear any ifs and buts, young lady. What if someday your dad has to bear the consequences of your actions like this? Huh?” she interrupted.Alyssa gazed at us. I shot a glance at her. She was petrified. “I’m sorry.”The hand on her waist went down with a sigh. She dialed a number on the phone and walked into another room. Guilt engulfed me as mom’s words sauntered into my mind. I just wanted to be a good daughter. I wanted to protect him like he provided a shield for us. I knew my father was innocent. ****Mom had been strolling around the house, with the phone in one hand tapping her nails on it. Alyssa perched on the couch, peeling the skin on her lips, staring at mom. My stomach grumbled. But I was too stressed to eat something. “It’s okay girls. Don’t worry your dad will be alright.”Mom sat beside
That Night in the Woods Chapter 31
Olivia Then Two Months Later I stood before the stove, the sole of my foot resting on the side of my knee. As the bubbles started appearing over the pancake, I stuck the spatula beneath it and flipped it over. The pancake liberated a sweet and buttery aroma, only because I added butter essence. But, it would taste like crap. I could only make scrumptious pancakes using the mix. But they were way too expensive. We were running out of money. Dad’s bank accounts had been emptied. And after mom’s medicine, we only had a couple of hundred dollars left at home. She wasn’t in a condition to work. She could barely get out of bed lately. The future appeared dark to me. We hadn’t heard about dad since the cops took him. Mom could barely take care of herself, and Alyssa and I were left on our own. The stress, of how everything will end up, was catching up to me. The ringing of the house phone tore through my eardrums, making the sizzling noises unnoticeable. I set my foot on the ground, flip
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