Monsters & Fairytales (8 page)

Each time I stopped to allow my eyes another look, my anxiety increased. I wasn’t sure if my heart was going to collapse from the stress or the love from the gift she had given me from beyond the grave. I had to know, either way. Eventually I would open this box...one day. It may as well be now.

“I should be sitting. Yes. Sitting would be nicer.” I tried to calm myself.

Grabbing the box, I walked back over to the couch. Placing it roughly on the coffee table, there was faint echo. The box was hollow, at least I knew that much.

“Ugh!” I screamed when I finally caved.

It’s just a box, just a box. I needed to treat it like a band-aid and tear it open. Yes. I grabbed the box and ripped the flaps on the sides. With the pieces of cardboard on the floor, in my lap there was a fancier box. It made me want to laugh just out of pure irony alone.
             

It looked like a wooden jewelry box. The wood was a dark red, cherry almost. It had a gold clasp that swiveled to keep it shut. I pushed it to the side and the lid popped open on a spring. Music started playing. It made me jump and drop the box. When it snapped shut, the music stopped. All I could hear was my heart. I carefully picked it back up and set it on the coffee table. A few more seconds of coaxing, and I convinced myself to open it once more. The music played again. I found myself crying finally.
             

The tears had nothing to do with the song; I didn’t even recognize what melody it was. The entire over the top package my mother had went through for me, the way she remembered the jewelry box I picked out at the store months ago, by now I should have been prepared for it. I guess I was sort of hoping that I wouldn’t find anything from her. I was hoping she’d forgotten for once. I set it back on the table. A shimmer from the bottom caught my eye. There was a piece of jewelry inside. I had thought the jewelry box was too much, but now I was staring at a bulky, silver piece of jewelry.
             

With shaky hands and tear filled eyes, I picked it up to examine it. Two chains fell from two separate hooks on one charm. I didn’t understand it. Looking more closely and blinking a few times, I realized I was looking at two perfectly fitted puzzle pieces.
One said ‘Mother’ and the other said ‘Daughter’. I
was in such a shock that it took me a while to realize I wasn’t breathing. My tears choked me up and I wanted to collapse.
             

I set the necklace back down in the jewelry box and threw my head back staring up at the ceiling. I couldn’t believe it, a
friggin
’ amazingly wonderful gift from the grave? Could it really get any better than that?
             

My emotions quickly became more than I could handle and I felt my temper starting to boil. I lost control. It wasn’t fair. She should be here. My legs thrashed in my fit of rage. The table toppled over. Something made a loud noise. The jewelry box must’ve fallen off and closed. It was silent now, no music. Now I’m ruining her gifts? I felt even worse with myself. I slumped off the couch and leaned down over the box.

Sucking up my tears and forcing myself to gain control, I looked at the mess I had made. Please don’t be broken. The necklace had fallen out. It was facing the other side now. Through my ever growing tears, I managed to see there was something on the backside of it. It was much bigger than just the typical sterling silver indication.

“Oh c’mon, Mom, you’ve done enough, now.” I whispered in defeat.

I wiped the engraving with my thumb. The edges were freshly soldered. She had done this for me. Focusing my eyes, I read the words. ‘My missing piece, found.’

Crying into the hand that wasn’t holding me upright, I let my emotions take over me. I screamed out. My face was pulsating with all the blood that was rushing into it. The necklace swayed and touched my nose. Chucking the
necklace across the room, I used one of the upturned legs to help myself up. It snapped under my weight and I went crashing down. I laid there on the bottom of the coffee table and wanted to laugh. Nothing could ever go right.

Jumping up and kicking one of the other legs, I only hurt
myself
even more. It didn’t even budge. Of course it didn’t. Why would anything cooperate? Well I’d sure have my way regardless. Something else was going to break in this house at my expense. It was the only way to vent the pain and brokenness that I was feeling inside.
             

The perfectly displayed shelves next to the fireplace were screaming at me. Taking my hands, I wiped everything onto the floor. Some of the snow globes bounced on the carpet, but one of them hit the edge of the fireplace and shattered. I stared at the floor and looked at all the destruction I had created. The broken mess suited this world better. Life should look like this; not all pretty and fake. No one had a perfect life in which they were perfectly happy.
No one.
             

I went to destroy more of the shelves but I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. The wall, there was a blank spot. I didn’t remember anything falling. I wiped my tears and walked up on the couch. Our family time line nearly killed me. Seeing us so happy twisted my heart into my gut. I squeezed my hands. Looking down I saw where the missing picture had fallen.
             

It was the one of when I had first met Rida. There was a crack right down the middle of us. Oh, irony. My eyes were looking up into hers with so much trust and love and I hadn’t even spent more than a day with her. But now, six years later, I was in this house alone and hurt.

“How could you do this to me?!
How could you leave me like this?” I screamed.

I took the picture and chucked it away from me. It flew into the glass door. The frame smashed and the glass broke even more. The shattering of glass was starting to comfort me more than I thought it could. I was getting sucked into that part of my head that denied reality. My body was giving up on me. Everything screamed that I was just lost in my own world. My mother wasn’t gone, she was still here. She was at the store. She’d be coming home any minute now. The house was a disaster, I had to clean it.
             

I tried to catch my breath. I collapsed on the floor and picked up the pieces of the broken snow globe. She was going to be so disappointed in me when she saw this. I had to think of something to fuse the pieces back together and get the water back inside.

Leaning on my hands and sobbing, I heard the jingle of Spike’s collar. I looked up and he was walking closer to me. He had his head hung low. He knew I was upset. He must’ve been hiding during my outburst and seeing me stopped now, figured it was safe to comfort me. He usually set me free from my insanity, but all I could think of was the glass all over the floor. He was steadily getting closer to it. I didn’t want him to get hurt.

“Spike, go.” I whispered.

I pointed towards the kitchen. Rather than turn around, he stopped moving and just hung his head lower.

“Go!” I screamed and pointed again.

He stepped forward to lie down and barely missed a piece of glass from the picture. I started to panic. I reached for a pillow behind me and chucked it in his direction. I threw it too high though and the fan caught it. It made a funny sound and then burst open. Feathers went everywhere.
             

Spike moved, but only to get the feathers. I watched him jump and bounce around. I blew my hair out of my face. Feathers flew out of my hair. Spike was on the couch trotting around and pouncing on the feathers that had settled. He stopped right beside me. The look on his face didn’t make me feel better. I wasn’t amused at all by God’s attempt to lighten the mood and cure my temporary rage.

“Why are you doing this to me?!”
I whispered.

I looked up to where God and my mother were looking down. I dropped the pieces of glass I had picked up and wiped the feathers off my face. They were sticking to my cheeks from my tears. With a few deep breaths, I stared at the now even bigger mess before me. The feathers that were covering the broken pictures and trinkets, the table that was overturned with its broken leg, the complete sheer immature behavior I had just displayed, I was a disgrace.
             
             
What have I done?

W
hat’s going on?
             

((
these
lies will corrupt you
))

From the back room came a loud crash. It made me jump and gasp. My hand was on my heart. I looked towards the noise. From where I was, I could see the entrance to the hallway but not the door to the spare bedroom. The only lights I had on were in the living room with me, so everything else was too dark. My heart skipped a beat and I felt my hands start to shake. Maybe I just heard something else from outside? This was the first time I had been standing still and quiet since my outburst. I held my breath and tried to listen. I could feel self-loathing creep over me.
             

Of course it would only be perfect that someone was in that bedroom waiting on me. Someone else would get to mess up the rest of the house far worse than I already had. Who honestly chooses to break in on a day like today and at a time like now? It was uncanny.
             

I took a step in that direction and noticed Spike twitch. He was staring down the hallway.
too
. There was a low growl coming from him. I had been sort of hoping my brain was playing tricks on me, but Spike confirmed any suspicion. God put that feather pillow in my hand to make me calm down. I was supposed to be prepared and on alert for this burglar. I would have never heard him if I was still throwing a tantrum.

The hair on my arms stood up. A chill echoed down my spine and through my fingertips. Focus. Looking down the hall, I debated for a few seconds on whether to grab a broken snow globe or an intact one. The broken one would make them bleed. The bank would have to clean that. I grabbed the broken one. Slowly, with all the rage I had left over, I walked towards the back room with Spike right at my side. We were ready.

When I passed the foyer I was reminded of the alarm. Did I set it? Was it on silent? Would the cops be here any second? Should I just wait? There was a panic button, I could press that. That was indeed silent. Then they would literally be here in just seconds. Could I live with that? Could I trust someone else to protect me? What if they let me down again? I can’t be defeated. I needed to face my demons head on. Even if my demons were a murderer stumbling in through my guest window, I needed to be brave. There was nothing more anyone could take from me. I was prepared now.
             

Rounding the corner, I stumbled to a stop when I saw the door was closed. I didn’t remember having shut it behind me. Staring at it, I was sort of glad I had this obstacle to overcome first. I wasn’t so sure I could have just waltzed down the hallway being able to see into the room and thus, immediately thrown into danger. I was slightly calmed down, but Spike’s growling stayed the same. He was like my shadow and only moved when I moved.
             

We stopped outside the door together. He looked up at me, waiting for his orders. Inside my head, I was battling for the extra courage to turn and unlatch the door from its frame. However, a small part of me wanted to see if it would move from the person on the other side first. Could I wait? I supposed this was technically waiting. Nothing was happening. I couldn’t hear anything moving from inside the room either. Could they hear us? Could they see our legs from under the door?
             

I was acting crazy. There wasn’t someone in there. I woke up in this room from getting hit on the head. Clearly, boxes were moving around on their own, they weren’t stable. I just need to walk in the room and see the clutter on the floor. It’s like how I tore the box open earlier; I just need to suck it up and do it.
             

Finally, with a quick breath, I flung the door open and screamed. Spike charged in and chased a dark shadow into the closet. Oh, my God, it was real! There was someone in my house. Holy crap they were going to kill me, I was going to die. This was complete insanity! Why hadn’t I just hit the panic button like a normal person? I had to be brave, I had to prove something. Well Mira, you’re standing in a room with a burglar, what now?
             

The closet doors slammed. I was still screaming and running in circles. I felt like a roach had just crawled up my leg and I was shaking it off. My heart was panicking. I couldn’t breathe. I held onto the entertainment stand and tried to catch my breath. Spike was snarling and howling. He was jumping up and clawing at the doors. I was surprised he wasn’t breaking through them. Then I realized this was my chance to turn and run as fast I could out of that room.