Note: This chapter has not gone to my editors and events may change before final release. The below is also unedited and in a raw non-polished form.
-----
A childish girl, no older than three, was running around an open grass field. She laughed when butterflies fluttered around her. Her parents, a young couple in their mid-twenties, looked on in pure joy.
“Isn’t she just the most beautiful thing you have ever seen?” The short blond woman asked.
The man turned to her and smiled. “Shes one of them.” He leaned in and the pair shared an intimate kiss. “Should we head home? It’s getting kinda late.”
“Let her play for a few more minutes. How many days do we both have off of work that we can take her to the park?” The woman pleaded.
The man nodded and placed his arm around his wife. They watched on as their daughter chased after the butterflies and played with her toys. They watched for another hour until it got more dark than light out. The man stood and walked over to the girl. Bending down, he pulled her into his arms.
“It’s time to go home, Emmy.”
“No! I don’t wanna.” Emmy protested.
“Emilia, it’s time to go. Aren’t you hungry? We can get dinner on the way home if you want?”
“Chicken nuggets?”
The man chuckled. “Yes. We can get chicken nuggets on the way home.”
Emmy screamed in excitement, and the man handed her to his wife so he could collect their things. He spent a few minutes packing up his daughter's toys, their blanket and various miscellaneous items they brought with them. After the woman had Emmy in her car seat, she turned and called out.
“Zach, are you ready?”
“One minute.” Zach grabbed the last few things and stuffed them in a duffel bag before jogging to their parked car. He put everything in the trunk and took the driver's seat. “I told her we could get chicken nuggets, Danielle. Should I stop at the drive through or do we have some at home?”
Danielle scratched her chin. “I’m pretty sure we have some in the freezer but I don’t really feel like cooking. Let’s just stop somewhere.”
The family stopped at a local fast-food chain on their way home but didn’t eat in the car. They wanted to eat as family and set out proper plates and silverware. After pulling in, Zach unpacked the car as Danielle took Emmy inside to set up for dinner. By the time he came in, they set the table for three. Emmy was in a booster seat, strapped to the long six foot bench adorning one side of their dinning table.
Their home was very rustic, well decorated and large for a family of three. Their dinning room had a massive table, large enough to fit ten comfortably. It was next to a cushioned bench under their bay window and attached to their kitchen. The focal point of the room was an enormous family portrait handing on the empty wall. The photo had a name placard that read ‘The Ginkel Family Home - Established 2019.’
Zach took in the scene around him and took a mental stock of his life. It was a way of appreciating everything he had in his life. I’m in my lovely home that we just bought. I’m enjoying dinner with my beautiful wife and my child. The two most important things in my life. And, most importantly, they’re both happy. He threw an arm around Emmy and pulled her in. “I love you, Emmy.”
“Love you dada.” She muttered with through a mouthful of fast-food chicken nuggets.
Danielle cleaned up after dinner while Zach took Emmy into the living room to play. He turned her favorite movie on, Frozen, and as soon as the first song was being sung, they were both dancing around the room singing along. Emmy was holding her stuffed animal snow man while stomping her feet to ‘Let it go’. Zach, the adoring father he was, danced and stomped his feet right beside her. Being a three-year-old Emmy was accused of a lot of things, but one of them was definitely true. She was a daddy’s girl at heart and everyone knew it.
When the movie’s credits rolled, Zach took Emmy upstairs for her evening bath. He treated it like every other moment in his life. An opportunity to spend time with his girls. Danielle and Zach sat outside the tube throwing toys at Emmy while she playfully splashed them.
Zach dressed Emmy for bed after her bath but, being the age that she was, she didn’t want to go. He placed her in her princess bed, but she cried and fought.
“I’m not tired.”
“Emmy, you have to go to bed now so we can get up tomorrow. Don’t you want to play tomorrow?”
“NO!”
Zach sighed. He already knew the outcome of this fight. Unable to say no to her innocent and watery eyes, Zach caved. He scooped her in his arms again and carried her downstairs to the living room. He shut off all the lights and put on another Disney classic as he grabbed a blanket and plopped into his recliner.
Emmy laid against his chest as her eyes got heavy. Within a half hour she was out. Rather than disturb her, he let her sleep until the movie was over. Then he carried her back upstairs and laid her down in her bed. He tucked her in and kissed her forehead before turning off the light and leaving the room.
When he finally made it to his own bedroom, his wife was long asleep. He slipped into his side of the bed, set the alarm on his phone and went to sleep.
A chiming startled him awake. Looking over the other side of the bed was empty. He smacked his alarm off and sat up. Yawning loudly, he got to his feet and meandered out the door. When he entered the small hallway connecting the home’s bedrooms to the staircase, he could hear Emmy laughing downstairs. This caused a smile to split his face as he proceeded toward the noise.
He turned the corner leading into his kitchen. Danielle was making pancakes with Emmy. His daughter finding the funny shapes Danielle molded the pancakes into to be particularly funny.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“I hope you saved me some.” Zach called out.
“Daddy!” Emmy jumped off the stool she was using to see above the counter and ran to embrace Zach.
He welcomed the embraced and kissed her on the cheek. She let out a girlish giggle, which warmed his heart.
“Hey babe.” Danielle kissed him as he got close. “Why don’t you take this stack to the table and feed Emmy?”
Zach let out a groan as he stretched awake. “Ok.”
Grabbing the pancakes in hand and Emmy in his other, he walked to the dining table. After grabbing some paper plates and getting Emmy set to eat, he made his own plate. It was an uneventful morning and after breakfast Zach took a shower and got ready for work.
Zach worked most weekdays, so did his wife. They were thankful that Danielle’s parents lived close by and were happy to watch their granddaughter most days. Electing to take Emmy over, Zach headed to work after making the exchange. The group home he worked at was only about twenty minutes from their house, and there was barely anyone on the rural roads in the early afternoon.
Pulling into the small parking lot, he quickly found a spot to park. He got out of his car and walked toward the unremarkable white building encompassed by trees. The sign next to the door read ‘A Helping Hand Group Home for the Intellectually Challenged.’ He pushed open the first set of double doors and waved to the bulky man sitting behind the desk inside. A loud buzzing filled the entryway as the electronic locks released, allowing Zach to enter past the second set of double doors.
“Hey Rich, how are things going?” Zach greeted the man who buzzed him in.
“All good. You here to relieve Darnell?” Zach nodded. “Heh. Man, he’ll be happy to see you.”
“Whys that?”
“Marshal had a couple episodes today. Really lashing out. He also refused to use the toilet today, so cleanups been greeeeat.”
It was easy for Zach to see the sarcasm in Rich’s voice. “Well… might as well get to it.” He clipped on his badge, signed in, and walked into the facility.
He was greeted with a wild scene as he pushed the door open. The large open living space was full of occupants doing a variety of things. There were six residents and two aids tending to them. Most of the residents were playing cards around a circle table while a slender woman served them juice and cups of medication. What made the whole scene wild was the one older male resident. He was stark naked, running around defecating and throwing his poop like a chimpanzee.
“MARSHAL! STOP! GET BACK HERE!” A bulky black male was chasing after the older man while avoiding the smelly projectiles.
Zach sighed heavily but sprung into action. He got in-front of where Marshal was running and held his hands in the air.
“Marshal, Marshal. Calm down, buddy. What’s the problem here? You know your supposed to be naked. There're ladies here. It’s not proper.”
Zach knew the personalities of all the residents he helped take care of. For example, he knew Marshal was a proud gentleman. He had a list of medical conditions that landed him in this place, but he was still a likeable guy. To be honest, he reminded Zach a lot of one of his uncles. They both loved to watch old war movies on TV and never did anything improper when a lady was present.
“What!? I’m naked?” Marshal stopped running and examined himself. “When did I get naked?” He looked around the room in search of his cloths. When his eyes landed on the few female residents, and the female caretaker, he blushed in embarrassment. “Oh no! This isn’t right.” He quickly grabbed a cushion off a nearby couch and used it to shield his privates.
“Lets get you cleaned up, Marshal.” Without touching him, Zach ushered him toward his room as Darnell approached.
“How do you do that?”
“You just have to learn about them. It's not about showing force or your dominance, it's about being their friend.” Darnell looked quizzically at Zach so he elaborated. “Most of their families don’t visit them once they’re placed in homes like this. They’re just looking for a friend. Yeah, we have to cook for them, clean up after them and all that but we have to care for them too. A little more compassion and a little less yelling goes a long way.”
“Yeah, well, you can go the long way down to Marshal’s room and make sure he takes a proper shower. I’m clocking out for the day. I’ve had enough.” Darnell headed for the door, but Rich came through it first.
“Zach, you have a phone call. It’s your wife. It sounds kinda important.”
Zach turned back with a shit-eating grin on his face. “Looks like you get to go clean up with Marshal while I take a phone call.”
Darnell’s face went red, and he opened his mouth to protest, but the woman caretaker came over and chimed in. “I’ll go help Marshal clean up and get dressed for supper. I’ll also make sure he gets his evening medications. Darnell, can you watch over the other residents for a few minutes, please?”
Darnell deflated and, with a grunt of annoyance, proceeded toward the round table.
“Thanks Kim.”
She nodded at Zach and proceeded toward the direction Marshal disappeared in.
Zach followed Rich back into the lobby and picked up the lone receiver sitting on the counter. It was attached to the standard office phone through a long curling cord. He pulled the cord straight a bit so he could take the call farther away from the counter in order to give himself some privacy.
“Hello? Danielle? Your calling just at the right time. You’ll never guess what you just got me out of.”
“Zach! It’s Emmy. Mom just called, and they’re taking her to the hospital. They’re not sure what's wrong, but she developed a fever and isn’t waking up. I’m heading there now…” A corn horn beeped over the line several times. “MOVE IT!”
“Babe!? What!?”
“Emmys going to the local hospital. Can you get out and meet us there? I have to go, I’m driving. Just get to the hospital!”
The phone clicked, signaling that she had hung up. Zach dropped the receiver as his heart raced.
“I have to go!” He pushed at the door to leave, but the electronic lock stopped him.
“Whats going on?”
“BUZZ ME OUT! Emmys being rushed to the hospital!” Rich hit the release button and Zach pushed the doors open. He screamed, “Thanks” as he ran to his car.
He fumbled for his keys, dropping them several times before finally unlocking his car and hopping inside. Hastily speeding outside the parking lot and into the street. The hospital was on the other side of town and it would take him an hour to get there.
Slamming on the gas, he was now doing sixty in a thirty-five with no signs of slowing down. He pulled his phone out and started fumbling with it in an attempt to call his wife back. It rang several times before going to voice-mail.
“Babe! Call me! What’s going on? What do you mean Emmy won’t wake up!?” He ended the call and cursed under his breath.
Looking down at the phone again, he started going through his contacts to find his mother-in-law hoping to get answers. Tapping on her name, his phone started ringing.
“Hello?” A woman's voice came out at a nearly inaudible volume.
“Fuck.” Zach forgot to hit the speaker button and started fumbling with the phone in his lap again. He rejoiced when he finally managed to hit it and heard his mother-in-law's voice come out. Finally! As he looked up, bringing his full attention back to the road, he saw it. A family of deers was racing across the street.
He wasn’t sure how fast his car had gotten up to when he collided with them, but he certainly felt it. His car managed to hit several deer before it started flipping. He was unsure how many flips his car made. The last thing he remembered was being thrown from the car and colliding with a tree at high speeds. In the rush to get to the hospital, Zach had forgotten to fasten his seatbelt.
He opened his eyes and watched the deer run off into the nearby woods. He wasn’t able to move much, excruciating pain filled him, but the adrenaline kept him going.
“Hello… Is anyone there?” He received no response. “I need to get to the hospital… My child… Child…” He was extremely weak and unable to speak more.
Request heard and confirmed. Creation of a child’s body is successful.
What? He responded in his head, not having the energy to continue aloud. I’m so… so cold. Am I dieing? Why is it so cold?
Request heard and confirmed. Ice Essence Affinity is successfully acquired.
The last thing he saw before closing his eyes and drifting to sleep was the phrase ‘You have died’ floating in front of him.