Once upon a crime.

For a bird, a lime

The floor is my enemy. No matter are light I am, it just keep cracking and sure enough, Maataa knows what it means.

The first attempt I made is shortly after daddy went out. I took Suzy from beneath the cushions and I slowly walked down the hallway. I knew where to not put the feet, but that makes my journey to the back of the couch more perilous.

It is difficult to walk on the tip of my toes. I slipped more than once and there it was: the spot that crack on the floor. It was there on purpose. House builders must embed a couple of those each time they construct a new building.

That is an adult constipacy! Huh? Conspiracy, rather.

You got your free set of cracking spot included with your floor, as is.

I walked slowly and prudently, but it was not enough.

At the sound, my mother head raise. Her hears are able to move up and down slightly, and that is what it did.

“Haley Dire-Heart, go back into your room immediately …” she ordered me.

When she used my full name, I know she is not making fun of it. So I went back, closing the door.

A bit later, I heard the reason why I tried to get behind the coach at first: CSI musical theme. My mother doesn’t want me to look at it. She said I will make nightmare, but I watched some with Taggard last time he baby-sat me.

Gross! They found a head in the trunk of a car. It was thrilling!

Taggard said that most of the things are impossible in reality. But since mom works in a lab and she didn’t want to tell me what is going on in there, I decided to lead my own investigation.

So the CSI series was a very valuable tool for me. If only Maataa let me watch it.

I attempted a second time to see if that moment was more favorable for me. But sure things, no matter that I crawled for that occasion, I just made it halfway.

I wondered if my parents have eyes behind their heads. They always caught me up.

But I did learn from my previous mistakes and I got a serious advantage: the light source is coming from the front. So my shadow couldn’t betray me, at least.

I did try a third time, afterward. I crept in the shadow of the hallway for a part, passing over the creaking part of the floor while holding my breath.

It was evening news and my parents were both sitting on the sofa. I thought.

I rose once I got to the corner between the exterior wall of my room and the beginning of the one holding the TV set. The Buddha statue moved a tad, so I gently placed my hand behind it, crouching to pass the space between that corner and the couch. After that, I made it. Yes, I was there, behind the couch and none of my parents had noticed me. Like I said, that was what I thought.

It was hard to restrain myself to dance about it, but I did. And I skidded underneath this long furniture. I was still lean enough to squeeze in there. But my legs were too lengthy and my parents have a serious problem with household keeping: they don’t broom nor vacuum clean the floor very often.

So, although Spot-the-Cat has been run over like six month ago, I could still found ball of its hairs mixed with who knows what rolling on the floor. But it was too dark under the couch, so I didn’t realize there was some there till my nose started to itch. I scratched it up, but my sight got blurry and finally I sneezed.

That is when two big hands seized my heels and pulled on them to get me out of my hiding position.

I was disappointed. No matter how hard I tried that evening to sneak up behind them, in the living room, I succeed not.

When daddy dragged me that way, my knee manages to get scratched; a big bloody one just looking bad enough to justify me to cry out loud. I knew by then, seeing my daddy face, that each one of my tears and cries were stabbing him in the heart. He was slightly moving with me in his arms, not sure on how to react but to cuddle me and hush to me.

I admit that I made quite a meal out of it. More than I should have done. And once I began on that trail, it was not the time to back off and blown on laughing. I got a credibilty to maintain. Crediblity…credibility. Awe.

Just to be taken more seriously, though, I lowered my tone and simply whimpered till I got maataa attention. She raised and my daddy transferred me to her solid arms. She sat on the couch and placed me on the side, in line with the light of the living room.

She took my leg from above and under the knee space. Her hands were colds on my skin.

“Daddy, I think we need a sterilized knife. We got a leg to amputate her.” She made.

I was scared. I stopped whining and my eyes widened. I stared at her a moment, she avoided my glance. My daddy was in my back, so I didn’t see is expression. But He lift me and I clung to him with all my strength, giving a dark look to maataa.

“That is not so bad, but that could be as hurtful that she manifested it. Pampered like she is, I have no doubt that it shook her. Not a reason to be cuddle more than that, though. ”She said to my dad. I raised a brow. Pampered, me?

Then she gives him instructions of some kind, but I was taking advantage of it to listen to the TV, so I didn’t really grasp the awfulness of the torture I had ahead. Not until daddy brought me into the bathroom. Crossing the door, I knew instantly what was coming up for me.

“Now, don’t do that face. You are a courageous little girl, aren’t you?” assumed my daddy, brushing my cheek with his fist’s side.

As he sat me on the vanity, I shivered. I swallowed hardly. I knew why I was there and I was not about to let him do that to me. I jumped off and instead of running, I found myself in more pain since I received myself badly on the terracotta.

My elbow and my cheek were scratched over it and while getting me back on the counter, my daddy called up my mother again.

Not because he is not able to handle it as well as she could do it. He saw lot of cadavers, he told me once. And he worked in the homacid dep. also. Homicide …sorry.

But whenever I am hurt, he just could not face it. He is deeply affected by it. I already saw him lost conscious over something I got when I first drove my bicycle without the helping wheels. So, maataa is trying to, to… well. To make so he will be able to do something because:

“The bigger they get, the bigger the booboos they will get. Get use to it!” she repeated when she joined us there.

Otherwise I would have not remembered it. I am forgetful sometimes.

Maataa stayed behind daddy. She gave him a kiss near his ear (Yuck!) on the neck and that seems somehow to give some courage to him. My envy to walk around, although I wanted not to undergo that punishment, had subdued at the time. I think I was still stunt by the unexpected fall I made, there.

And the floor tiles in the bathroom were ten times colder than Maataa's hands.

I did whimper again and, of course, I shouted when daddy applied the dis... disinfectant. So much that Maataa checked well the bottle after daddy released it.

"A moment I thought you used Alchool. The bottles are so similar." she commented while daddy was blowing up on my booboos. By chance it was dong that, that was so burning that I needed not to improvise or to exaggerate a crying session. My tears were sprouting out my eyes alone.

After that, they both brought me in my room and Maataa did massage my feet a little while. Daddy was brushing my hairs. Then I think I fell asleep. I felt that my head was getting back to the pillow and I heard Suzi recitations of prayers. I picked up the door closing.

It was calm a long time. I perceived the light closing up and the humming of the tv set was brought to an halt. I think I dreamt. But I can’t remember to what. I hold tight on Suzy arm. I felt her softness under my fingers.

Then the light brushes my face again. I lift one eye’s lid, uncertain. I was under the impression I slept only for a few minutes. My scratches were still hurting like if it was just recently that daddy fixed them.

I closed back my eye and took the sheet to tight it up on me, turning away from the light source. I yawned but then, something impeded my breathing. My mouth was blocked. I opened my eyes abruptly; all I saw was the ground moving as whom or what ever transporting me out my room was doing it.

It seemed like a nightmare, so I thought I could have waked up. I tried to wake myself up. It turned totally wild when I visualize the destination we were taking: The window. I didn't comprehend at the time. So I jolted and kicked and twisted my body in all the directions I could do it. I tried to open my mouth to shout out loud, but it did like burning up my lips. It hurt and the sound came from my throat instead, muffled there.

I heard my mommy calling me up to "Knock it off!" and to "Get back to sleep."

Her tongue was making her speech almost impossible to recognize. But I knew it was her.

The person stopped walking, waited a moment. It behaved like it was to flee and letting me go. But it didn't.

It emitted a sigh when the snoring of my daddy was heard over all the normal noises of the house.

I experienced the cold air biting on my toes like a rat. I endured that journey, bundle up in the sheets.

I guessed a moment that it was maybe a Halloween trick of some sort. That sooner or later, I would learn who was playing it on me.

It smelt like something I did notice at Eric's place. Thought I knew it was not Eric.

Eric was always wearing a cap, even when he is sleeping on the couch. I asked him once, why. And he said it was to protect him against any punishment because he was a very bad boy. But he must have jived, Eric always joked. He is cool. I don't understand why Maataa forbid daddy to invite him again at home. I liked him.

Bert was a gift from him. Like he knew it will be an instantaneous love between me and that hermit crab. It was just so cool. Like the hand wandering around in the old thing mommy made me watch. Humz...Adams something. But with a shell and red.

I was unfamiliar with that person carrying me, but it was not Eric, I swear.

So, it got to a point I got slumberish.

I realized I didn’t sleep enough. Despite the danger I was in, my eyes were tough to maintain open. My drowsiness rose by the minute and I tried to fight it up, as to see the path we were taking.

But the difference between the night in my bedroom and the night outside was too much and that blinded me. Moreover, the arms of the stranger were warm, inviting me to swoon.

On second thought, in regard of all the pranks I did, perhaps it was that guy mommy spoke to me about, the one that punishes the children when they didn't obey to their parents and go to sleep too late. What was his name? Oh, yes, the Sandman.

But as I turned a bit my head to see, I was pushed backward, in the direction we were walking. I landed back first in a chest of some kind with carpet all over.

I began to remember some chatting I did with the Ex of Maataa, Taggard. That was about how important it was to remark everything you can: Odors, colors, sound. To remark and remember.

It came after I ran home with my key around the neck and he surprised me from behind. I immediately started crying.

“One day it could help someone.” He mentioned to me at the time. “You don’t know. Anything out of the ordinary can be a life saver. But you can only recognize that if long ago you started to look around you and to notice what the normality is. What is there everyday. And for that, you have to remain calm, to not cry. You will cry later, after you’ll have found a way to get out of the problem you are in.”

I don’t understand why he taught me that. He was even scowled by maataa to have done it.

“You are scaring her off. Nothing can happen to her, we are protecting her.” She shouted at him.

And he retorted that he was only preparing me in case and that I was old enough to understand.

So, as hard as it was, I tried that. I was hearing his voice repeating in my head:” You will cry later, after you’ll have found a way to get out of the problem you are in.”

I swallow and then I saw that the Sandyman was a woman, rather, a very not nice looking one. Her eyes were remembering me of someone. But I could not put my finger on who it was. Time I made up my mind to try to escape, my feet were pushed back in and the lid of the chest shut down over me.

That is when I realized, by the sound of door car closing up and by the fuel odor, that I was inside a car trunk. I started crying again.

I was sad. I was going away from my parents and after that the last thing they saw of me was a bad girl not complying with their wills. I knew they will felt guilty because they didn’t hear a thing while I was snatched from my bedroom.

They will perhaps regret to have sleep like logs.

They always do, but like maataa said, they have nothing on their mind, nothing to reproach to themselves, I was old enough to go by my night without needing their full attention and they felt secure. Why should they have a light sleep?

Well, my parents were special numbers at the time, too.

No choice to feel secure whit the ritual they do every night since when I can remember it.

Both of them do the tour of the house appliances, opening and closing each of them to check all was in order. They closed the valves going to the washing machine, unplugged all that is not supposed to serve during the night, lower the thermostat and when I said all, it is all, TV include.

I tended to try to watch TV when they were getting to bed. I wait till I heard my daddy snoring and I got up. But they so unplugged everything!

By the time I found out what to connect to what, I finished falling asleep on the couch without having saw a single minute of any emission aired.

My attention span, though distracted by my memory, was on every detail I could pick out. I tried to connect them so I could remember them easily later on. I wondered how this individual driving the car I was inside had done to undo all the lock on the door. There were four of them; one that was so high, Maataa has to climb on a chair to close it up.

I remembered that I feared for a fire once, and she explained to me that the alarm system is made to unlock everything if ever there is a fire.

I thought to all that, tried to figure out a lot of enigma before I heard some police car’s siren.

“My chance!” I thought right away.

I kicked on the lid of the trunk a couple of times, but with all the chatter the policeman was doing to the lady, he never heard me up. My sadness turned into rage and I kicked once more, hurting my foot.

It prevented me to think more of my situation for a while and when I managed to get calmer by myself, I contemplated the possibility that I would have to get out of there by myself, but also the one that I would not get out of there. So I plotted some solutions.

And the favorable actions were to leave as much traces that I could. So I tried to remember what they talked about in some CSI I watched despite the banishment of my mother.

My mouth was blocked, thus I struggled a short time and managed only to free one hand.

Suddenly, I got a great idea. ”If I can’t spit, I can pick into my nose!”

I blew through my nose to try to leave some of my nose disgusting content in the trunk, spreading it everywhere I could.

I was still on my back. I didn't dare turning over. The expectation of not being able to face the woman when she will open the trunk back again immobilized me for a time.

I was wondering so many things. I was so sad. I was confused too. So many questions and I was having no one to bug them with. No one to kindly answered to it. And that alone was very very scary for me.

And if she put me inside and she was to forget me, never open this again? It crossed my mind. Tone of thoughts did at an unusual speed. It was making me dizzy. I just was helpless to bring them to a standstill.

I tried to get what ever was on my mouth off. I failed. It was well tied up. So I scratched the inside of the trunk, neatly. Pulled out and removed as many hairs I could, also.

I did the inverse too. I mean, taking some pieces of the car inside the bedclothes, on me. The sawdust I found and the dirt tickled my belly. It made me cough.

One thing was certain: if the car was to be found without me in it, they will know I was in.

I tried to not damage it too much either. What to say if that lady is opening it and got angry at me because I made quite a mess in there?

And I didn’t exclude the leeway that perhaps it was a joke from my parents, to teach me a lesson. In which case, that should have not been that long before they appeared.

I wished that they will do fast, me and moisture directly on my feet. Well...I needed the toilet, enough said?

And the car rolled a long long time. I was wiggling in the trunk, trying to not do anything before the travel ended.

Except that it prolonged. So I had to. It simply went out. It was a relief, in a way. For a short moment, though. The cold air made that situation unbearable soon.

I cried and cried a lot. I lost knowledge of the time flowing. I smelt a lot of things, too much for me to remember all of them. And I lost count on the turn the car made. I shivered. What if I never went back? Will mommy and daddy be mad at me?

Will they be ashamed I was unable to keep all the details in my memory? I was looking everywhere, trying to do it, but all was blurry. I was unsure. I felt worst than lost. It looked so easy in the movie. Why I was unable to remember when was the last turn this car made? Where is Suzy? Where did I let her fall? I want Maataa! I want daddy! I want Taggard!

The car moved on the opposite direction, then. It bumped onto something and I flied a moment. It got warmer, so I dozed up despite the uncomforted and the last thing I heard that night was like a garage door closing up. It was warm, it was calm, it was motionless and I slept off.

Word Count=3457

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