Melissa listened quietly, dazed by her realization. The principal didn’t seem to notice as he explained Melissa’s feist over the phone, regretfully informing the stranger that she had taken her actions too far yet again. The voice agreed without emotion, never deviating from its monotone script.
Don’t panic, honey. Tell the principal.
“That isn’t daddy,” Melissa blurted.
The principal turned off the speakers. “Be quiet!” he snapped. He turned on the speakers again. “So, we’ve allowed your daughter to leave early today. When can you pick her up?”
“I'm here,” the voice replied. A discordant whistle droned from the speaker. Was she imagining things, or did it also come from the door behind her?
The whistle, Teddy whispered. Melissa’s stomach churned. Something about the whistle made her nauseous with dread.
“Great, great! Just enter through the front office and we’ll send her off with you.” The principal hung up, turning to Melissa with a solemn expression. “Is this enough for you? When will you learn to not pick fights with others?”
Melissa choked on her breath. “That—that wasn’t daddy,” she repeated.
The principal rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “Then tell me, who else could it possibly be? In the real world, people won't be nice to you if you lie to them, you know.”
“I’m sorry,” Melissa said, holding back her tears. The principal nodded as if he had won some kind of argument.
They turned to a simple knock on the door. “Come in,” the principal called.
The doorknob jiggled for a few seconds as someone tried to turn it. The door creaked, and, near the ceiling, a wide, glistening eye peeked into the room.
“Oh, Mister Cardoso!” The principal smiled, gesturing to Melissa. “Your daughter was waiting for you.”
As if on cue, the door swished wide, revealing the stranger.
Melissa clutched Teddy to her chest. Her breath hitched. “Teddy, who is that?” The man did not resemble her father. In fact, he barely resembled a human at all. His face was stretched into a wide, rubbery grin, akin to a mask. His teeth were sanded smooth into perfect white rectangles. His head swayed gently, back and forth, looming over them with soulless, pinpoint pupils screwed into his garish white skin. “Teddy!”
Teddy didn’t respond.
“Good afternoon. Pretty little rabbit.” The voice was identical to the one from the phone, utterly flat. His vacant gaze bore into the principal’s flesh. The man crumpled in his seat, lifeless pale. His eyes were glazed with terror.
Melissa writhed as the stranger clamped the back of her neck, lifting her into the air with ease. “No!” she screamed as she was dragged away. "Help me, Teddy!"
The teddy bear was limp in her arms.
The stranger brought her to a bench outside. No one seemed to notice her struggling against the man’s grip. No one spared her a single glance, as if she didn’t exist. Melissa dug her fingers into Teddy’s fur, but the toy still wouldn’t respond.
Melissa met the man’s blank, fish-eye stare. “Who are you?”
“I love children like you,” he said. “Children like you cry over such small things.” A grating melody whistled through his teeth as the air became painfully thin. “That night. Crying in your blanket. Mommy ran away.” His rubbery smile swayed gently above her, crooning softly.
“How do you know mommy?” Melissa asked.
“Did mommy ever love you?”
Melissa felt her breath leave her body. She looked at the teddy bear in her arms, remembering the last time her mother loved her, the lullaby which embraced her. “She left because she doesn’t love me.” The words unwillingly wrenched from her lips.
When Melissa's breath calmed, the stranger continued. “But I know how to make mommy love you again.” His voice dipped into a whisper. “You can sit on her lap, listen to her sweet lullaby forever.”
Melissa’s eyes widened. “How?”
The stranger’s smile grew. “Every decade, a marvelous festival—”
Shut up, Teddy growled.
The man’s glassy stare switched to Teddy, who convulsed softly under his gaze. “And you are? The festival grants wonderful wishes to those little rabbits who join the amusements. The least I could do is reserve a show for this young lady. Imagine the way she will dance. The stage begs for her. Don’t you agree?”
Before the man finished, Teddy let out a terrible shriek. The toy writhed in her arms, and a stream of blood burst from Melissa’s nose. The girl clutched her ears, suddenly struck with a piercing headache. “T-Teddy? What’s wrong?”
Teddy fell limp once again, and Melissa’s nosebleed trickled to a stop.
“Oh, it’s you,” the man said. His smile twisted until his skin began to tremble, straining against his dry, bloodied gums. He leaned closer. “I didn’t recognize you. So be it. Then, little girl, do you want to know the real reason why mommy disappeared?” The man was close enough for Melissa to hear his breath, rasping through his teeth. It smelled like dust and blood.
Teddy whimpered. Please. Don’t bring Melissa into this. She sounded desperate. Exhausted. Melissa comforted her with a squeeze before nodding her head. That day, her mother abandoned her forever. How could she make her come back and love her again?
The stranger cawed a thin, monotone laugh. “I won’t ruin the moment. Children like you cry over small things, after all. When you return, check the freezer. Check the freezer. Mommy ran away, oh, she ran away, poor rabbit.” He stroked Teddy’s forehead.
With those words, the man left Melissa on the bench. She tried to catch her breath. Talking to the stranger made her stomach itch. He had all the parts to be called human, yet bore no resemblance to one.
Promise me, Melissa. Do not open the freezer.
Teddy never called Melissa by her name before, so she shivered as Teddy said it for the first time. “I won’t. I promise.”
Good. If you see him again, run immediately.
“He could hear your voice just fine. Who is he?”
Teddy paused, like she didn’t know either. The smiling man, she finally said.
“Can he really make mommy love me again?”
Don’t listen to that monster, Teddy snapped. Her voice softened as the girl trembled. Don’t listen to him. Because mommy already loves you, honey. Nothing can change that.
“No, she can’t!” Melissa snapped. “She can’t because she left me with daddy. How can she still love me?”
Teddy didn’t respond, which Melissa took as her answer. The girl stumbled to her feet, ignoring the looks she got from her wretched outburst.
Melissa walked to and from school every day, but this time she felt particularly miserable. The scenery blurred around her as she blinked away her tears. She wondered what the smiling man would have said if Teddy didn’t interrupt him. How could he make her mother come back? And, for the first time, Teddy lied to her. If her mother actually loved her, she wouldn’t have ran away. She would have sang to her every night. If nothing else, she would have taken Melissa away with her, away from home and her father.
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“Mommy…” Tears dripped down the girl’s face as she walked. For the first time in months, she began to cry in earnest. Why did her mother run away? She wanted to hear her sing again, to hug her tight and never let go.
I’m sorry, Teddy whispered, but Melissa did not react.
She crawled up the stairs of her father’s apartment building. She reached for the doorknob. As usual, it was unlocked. Empty bottles of drink littered the entrance, reminding the girl to wipe away her tears. He didn’t like it when she cried. “Daddy?”
No answer. The living room was strewn with broken glass and rotten stains. Searching the house revealed she was alone. Soon, she found herself in her bedroom.
She crawled into her blankets, drifting into a restless sleep.
Melissa woke to the growl of her stomach. Her mouth felt like blisters. “I’m hungry,” she mumbled. “Teddy, are you there?”
Of course, Teddy responded.
The girl climbed out of bed. Glass crunched beneath her shoes as she walked to the kitchen. She rinsed her mouth, but that only made her appetite worse. After her mother left, Melissa never had the chance for lunch, but today she didn’t have breakfast either.
She opened the fridge. Aside from black and green bottles, there was a piece of chocolate brownie on the bottom shelf. Her eyes glittered as she took the brownie from the fridge. The crust was too hard to chew, but after leaving it in her mouth for a minute it dissolved into sugary sweetness. She closed her eyes and savored the moment of reprieve.
Even so, Melissa wasn’t sure if her father would return with anything for dinner. She had tried her father’s drinks before, but she found the taste utterly repulsive, nothing like the bruised sweetness that would linger on his breath after every bottle.
“Teddy, I’m hungry,” she repeated.
Your father will come home with food. It’s still too early for dinner.
“He didn’t bring food yesterday,” Melissa countered. “I want food now.”
How about doing your homework?
Melissa thought Teddy’s suggestion made sense. She took out her schoolwork, scribbling away with a bit of Teddy’s guidance. Her stomach protested as she consumed words and numbers to distract herself.
The last assignment caught her interest. More specifically, a single word.
Melissa traced the word with her finger. “Marry land. Isn’t marry what mommy and daddy did?” The girl scribbled the word ‘love’ beneath the word ‘Maryland’. She held the paper in the air, feeling quite proud of the connection she made. “People get married in marry land,” she remarked confidently.
Teddy laughed. No, Maryland is one of the thirteen colonies. It isn’t where mommy and daddy got married. We don’t even live in Maryland, honey.
“Then, do we live in a thirteen colonies?”
Our state was founded after all that.
Melissa started to respond, but her face scrunched together as her stomach twisted painfully. “Hungry,” she gasped. She looked out the balcony window, watching the sun barely clip into the horizon. Her father wouldn’t come home for a few more hours, and even then, he wouldn't necessarily come back with food.
I’m sorry, honey. Just bear with it.
Melissa pulled Teddy to her chest. “No,” she whimpered. She tried to recall the taste of the brownie from earlier, but even that memory tasted sour. Her limbs curled around Teddy’s body.
The girl first daydreamed about her mother. She dreamt about the lullaby her mother sang to her every night, before she ran away, but when she couldn’t fall asleep she dreamt about food instead. She couldn’t quite remember the food her mother prepared before she ran away. It was something warm. Something like a big slice of pizza, or like tomato soup. Her mother didn’t know how to cook, but she sure knew how to use a microwave.
With that thought, Melissa dragged a stool to reach the microwave. She pressed some buttons, watching the inside spin and rattle with golden radiance. Her breath quickened as the numbers slowly counted to zero, and a ghost of a smile crossed her lips as she hopped in place.
Ding!
The microwave was disappointing, to say the least. Crusty chunks of brown and yellow steamed on the plastic wheel, oozing a stench that nearly erased her appetite. She wondered what the rot on the wheel would taste like, but a visceral nausea rejected that idea for her.
Melissa frowned. Where was the food?
The girl searched her memories. She remembered one time when her mother opened the freezer and took out a bag of dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets. The freezer could have dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets.
She hopped from the microwave, dragging her stool to the fridge.
What are you doing, honey?
Her stool screeched to a halt. She pulled herself up. “Chicken nuggets.”
Don’t open the freezer, Melissa. Remember your promise?
Melissa paused. Right, she promised Teddy she wouldn’t look into the freezer. Her hunger clashed with her promise as she stood still for a few minutes. She reached for the handle before pulling herself back. “Teddy, what’s in the freezer?”
Why would there be anything in the freezer? What would daddy even put in there?
Melissa wondered if Teddy was lying to her again. She gripped the handle. If there was nothing in the freezer, why wasn’t she allowed to open it? Teddy said it was empty, but the smiling man said it wasn’t and that she should check it. The girl couldn’t tell who was lying, but she knew that one of them had to be.
“Teddy, are you lying?” As Melissa voiced her doubts, her tears threatened to resurface. Her voice trembled with a thin veneer of calm. Today, Teddy lied to her for the first time, lied about her mother's love. And, depending on how she responded now, Teddy would lie to her once again.
The toy shivered. I would never lie to you. Just listen to me, honey. Promise me, Melissa.
A teardrop fell from Melissa’s cheek. “But you would lie to me, Teddy. You lied today.” Her mother didn’t love her. Because she left. Nothing could change that, not the dreams she had every night, not even Teddy’s sweetest lies. “So now you lied again.”
When did I—
Melissa pulled open the freezer.
A minute passed before she realized what she was looking at.
Her hand fell to her side. “Mommy?”
The freezer glistened murky brown, assaulting her nose with the stench of rot. Stuffed inside was a corpse, carved into limbs and chunks. Her mother’s face stared at her. Lifeless, frozen eyes. “Wh-what’s this?”
I’m sorry, Melissa. I’m so sorry, Teddy wept.
“Why is mommy… in the freezer?”
Your father got angry. They had an argument, and daddy made a mistake. He got angry and made a big mistake. I’m so sorry.
Melissa clutched her head. An animal’s wail twisted past her lips. Her hand shot forward, touching her mother’s cheek, but she recoiled as a rough, icy texture glued onto her skin. “A-ah! Why! M-mommy-!”
Melissa’s hands latched onto the freezer shelves. She tried to pull herself inside, and her forehead touched the corpse as she wept. “I-I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry mommy, so please come back to me!”
She pressed herself into her mother’s pieces, rancid blood and sinew, into the rot that was entirely different to the sweetness she knew from her happiest memories. The girl leaned closer, until her tears melted lines into the rotten ice.
Melissa wanted to hear her mother sing again, to open those blackened lips and her decaying flesh; she wanted to ask why her mother couldn’t instead hold her tight with those brittle, frozen arms. How could the ice make her skin so pale and barren, yet still so enchanting before Melissa’s eyes?
That lifeless stare, those frozen eyes, why wouldn’t they blink for her, even after her tears stained them warm?
“I-I love you, mommy.” The girl leaned closer, until her lips froze against the life which gave hers.
The door slammed behind her.
Melissa pulled her lips away, whirling to face the noise.
“Just what are you doing?”
A voice hissed from the doorway.
Melissa gulped as she met her father’s gaze. The room began to reek with the sweetness of drink. The man hissed filthy words beneath his breath, shambling closer until his spit lashed her skin. He drew his hand back, and Melissa hastily covered her face. “Answer me!” he screamed.
The girl trembled. She pointed into the freezer. Tears painted her expression, burning red into her cheeks. “Mommy in the freezer—”
A jagged pain tore through her stomach. A fist. “Who said you could look in there?” The girl screeched as she lost her balance on the stool, crashing into the floorboards. She retched.
I did, dear! I told her to open it, so don’t hit Melissa, please! Teddy begged her father, but the man could not hear her.
The man stomped on her ribs. “You telling anyone?” Melissa felt something shatter, a crunch like three celery sticks. Her vision flickered, off and on again. She felt her father’s shoe against her throat. The stench. Sour asphalt and dirt. “Answer me!”
The girl could vaguely hear Teddy begging her father to lift his foot. If he was going to hit Melissa, at least let her breathe, then he was free to do whatever he wanted, Teddy pleaded. But her father couldn’t hear Teddy’s voice, just like how everyone else couldn’t, so it was pointless all the same.
Teddy wasn’t protecting her, Melissa realized. Her chest hurt. Her stomach hurt. It hurt. It hurt, and she didn’t like the pain! Why was Teddy telling her father to hit her more? Didn’t Teddy promise she would always protect her?
Melissa didn’t understand, and that was what hurt the most.
“No one—not telling…” As her breath faded, Melissa could only plead with her eyes, slowly rolling to the back of her head.
The man squinted at her. “Good,” he muttered, releasing his foot. He grabbed a green bottle from the fridge and stumbled away, but the freezer was left open. A putrid stench oozed to the ground, burying the girl’s curled body.
Melissa gasped for air, squeezing Teddy in her arms. She stared at the ceiling and the open freezer door. Somewhere in the freezer was something she didn’t want to think about. She closed her eyes. “Teddy,” she croaked. Her chest hurt with each breath. What just happened? Her thoughts looped over and over, but she couldn’t process a thing . Her mother never ran away. She was in a million pieces. She saw it. “Teddy,” she gasped.
Melissa.
“So the smiling man lied too.”
Don’t speak, honey. Try to sleep.
“Because mommy can never sing again. Daddy put her in the freezer.”
I’m sorry, Teddy whispered. I’m so sorry.
Melissa felt a stone grow in her throat, but she couldn’t make a sound. She had run out of sounds to make.
Suddenly, Teddy began to sing. She held her first note in a stifled weep before fading into a nostalgic, shivering lullaby. Melissa felt the floorboards soften into her mother’s lap, embracing her in the warmth of her happiest memories.
Teddy kissed her skin.
I love you, Melissa. Always.
But the girl was already asleep.