AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ellie clenched her teeth as a moment of nostalgia swept over her. As a little girl, she’d been too excited to sleep the night before Santa. She usually woke up at 4 a.m. to open presents. She’d tear into them and play in her pajamas while Vera made waffles, then by lunchtime her mother was already working on her famous prime rib dinner.
“It all depends on if we find Ava, Dad. We’re working around the clock to bring her home before the holiday.”
She had to put her own family on hold. At the moment, Lara’s took priority.
Sixty-Four
Somewhere on the AT
Ava shivered as the stinky-smelling lady led her from the dark room into another one that was bigger with twin beds. She pinched her nose to keep from breathing in the yucky smell. It was like when she and Mommy walked past the perfume counter at the mall, and all the perfumes mixed together. It gave Mommy sick headaches so she rushed them past. It was giving her a headache now.
“Isn’t the room pretty?” the lady said it in a sing-song voice. “Just look at the sun trying to break through the rain.”
Ava blinked. The sun came in little streaks but wasn’t bright like the walls. They were so yellow they looked like they’d been painted with butter.
“See, I told you you’d have books and toys here!” The woman pointed to a corner that was filled with a bookcase, table, blocks, an easel and games.
Then Ava saw the calendar on the corkboard, and her throat felt wet with tears again.
At home she and Mommy had an advent calendar where you plucked a piece of candy from the wooden tree to mark off the days until Santa came.
There were three days left. Was Mommy eating the candy today without her?
“Come on, don’t dawdle,” the lady said as she pushed her farther into the room.
A humming sound came from the corner, and Ava saw another girl sitting at the table drawing with markers, her blond hair in pigtails held with bright-red ribbons. Ava bit her lip as the woman nudged her forward, her feet so heavy they stuck to the floor as if she’d stepped in glue.
“This is the beautiful room I told you about, Ava. You’ll have your own bed and lots of toys, and look, a sister.” The woman had a weird smile on her face as she walked over and gave the little girl a hug. “This is Kaylee.”
Kaylee looked at Ava with big eyes then back down at her drawing.
Goosebumps skated up Ava’s arms.“I wanna go home,” Ava said in a whisper. “Back to my house with my real mommy.”
The woman stooped down and tilted Ava’s chin up with her thumb. “Look at me, I told you that your mommy doesn’t want you anymore. You’re going to live here and we’re going to be a family.”
Ava’s lip quivered, and she shook her head. “No, Mommy wouldn’t get rid of me. She l-loves me.”
The woman cupped Ava’s face in her hands. They felt cold and clammy, not soft and warm like Mommy’s. “You don’t understand yet, but you will.” Her eyes bore into hers like the skinny black and white cat’s that lived at Ms.Dottie’s house.
Then she stroked Ava’s hair and whispered, “I’ve missed you so much, Piper.”
Ava’s stomach lurched. “My name is not Piper,” she whispered. “It’s Ava.”
The woman suddenly let her arms go and stood. A frown pulled at her mouth, and Ava’s legs wobbled. “I’ll leave you to get to know your new sister,” she said.
She turned, clasped her hands together and looked between the two girls. “While you play, I’ll set up everything for us to make the gingerbread houses.” She clapped as if they were celebrating then turned and left the room. Ava heard the door lock after she shut it.
Butterflies danced in her stomach. She turned and looked at Kaylee. Kaylee pushed the empty chair at the table toward Ava. “Sit by me, Ava.”
Her legs felt shaky as she shuffled over to the table. Kaylee pushed another sketchpad in front of Ava and set the basket of markers in the middle. “You’ll get used to it here,” Kaylee said, her voice tired.
Ava swiped at her face, picked up a marker and began drawing Bunny. She didn’t want to get used to it.
If Mommy wasn’t coming, maybe Bunny would become real and save her.
Sixty-Five
Crooked Creek
