"Cynthia, come on!" Her mother said in an exasperated voice. "Get your shoes on or you'll be late for school." Marie quickly finished the last of the dishes, placing them in the draining rack before drying her hands and grabbing the hair brush from the counter. She turned to her five year old daughter and hurriedly began the task of untangling the long messy dark mane on top of her head.
"Ouch mommy, you're pulling!" Cynthia protested with a squeal.
"I'm sorry Cindy but you need to hold still. This hair of yours is a mess." Marie went back to the unruly mane, unable to keep her eyes off the clock. After finishing with her daughter's hair, Marie helped slip on Cynthia's jacket before pulling on her own. She grabbed the girl's book bag, slid it over her shoulders and they headed out the front door.
It was a beautiful spring day; the early morning sky was a clear blue, not a cloud in sight. Marie breathed in deeply, the scent of fresh mowed grass filling her senses. Who in their right mind would be mowing their lawn this early in the morning was beyond her, but she didn't care. She loved the spring. Everything blooming, the trees around her taking on a deep green color, it was probably her favorite season.
Marie hated feeling rushed. She glanced at her watch and let a frown cover her face, thinking about her hectic morning and what was to come. Usually she was much more organized than this, ready to go at the drop of a hat. She'd had to be for so long; she couldn't remember being any other way. Yet, in the past few years, Maria had found she was growing more and more comfortable and relaxed in her everyday life. Long gone were the days of keeping a 'go bag' in the closet, or in the trunk of the car in case she needed to run again. She hadn't even had a nightmare in over two years. Of course, she hadn't told her husband Bill much about her. At least not much that was true. As far as he knew, her name was Marie Stephenson and she hailed from Maryland, which was just fine by her. She'd always wanted to go to Maryland. The guilt she felt for lying to the one man she has ever loved was unbearable at times. She tolerated the guilt because it was necessary. This was how things had to be if she and her daughter were to be safe from her past.
She had only recently moved to Minneapolis St. Paul, Minnesota, when Marie had met Bill Spencer as she was catering a wedding five and a half years ago. He was the best man at the ceremony, tall and handsome with his short blonde hair and electric blue eyes. She fell for him the minute he looked at her with that winning smile of his. Of course, his flawless firm body didn't hurt either. It was a whirlwind relationship, everything happened so fast. He somehow obtained her phone number, apparently from a coworker at the catering company she worked for at the time, he called her for a date and they were married six months later. Despite the lies she felt forced to tell him, their relationship was wonderful. Marie had never been happier and she would do anything for her husband.
Their fifth anniversary was the coming Monday. Five years seams a long time to some people but for Marie, it had been but a flash before her eyes. The most beautiful flash she had ever seen, but a flash never the less.
Marie sighed impatiently when her daughter stopped to pluck a stray caterpillar from the sidewalk. Cynthia had always been a curious little soul, stopping to examine everything she came across. Any other day Marie would have loved to take the time to explore with the girl, taking every opportunity to nurture her interests and talents. However, this particular morning she had bigger things on her mind than silly little caterpillars. The doctor's appointment she was running late for had her nerves on edge and she couldn't focus on much more than getting her kid to school and heading straight to Dr. Brooks office.
Marie had been so caught up in her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed that her daughter was no longer walking beside her. She turned to find Cynthia almost half a block behind her staring strangely at something. With an irritated sigh she turned on her heel. This had better not be another damn caterpillar, she thought.
"Cynthia Leanne Spencer, will you please hurry? You know we are running late." Feeling her patience wearing thin, she quickly walked over to her daughter, intent on grabbing her by the hand and dragging her to school, caterpillar or not. Marie instantly noticed the strange look on her daughter's face, and slowly knelt down in front of her putting them at eye level. "What's wrong sweetie?"
"Mommy, I don't like that car."
Marie looked in the direction of the girl's disturbed gaze and noticed a blue Ford parked at the curb across the street. She raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What would make you say a silly thing like that?" She laughed. "I happen to think it's a perfectly fine car." Marie found herself wishing she had taken her own car this morning, instead of insisting on walking everywhere. Maybe then they wouldn't be running so late. She looked back to her daughter and immediately became worried when she noticed a tear streaming down the girl's face.
"That's the car that hurts you and daddy."
"What?" Marie blinked slowly, trying to maintain a calm expression. She reached up and wiped the tear from her child's cheek. "Cindy, why would you say something like that?"
"I dreamed it, mommy. Two days ago I was sleeping, and then I was standing in the street and I saw daddy's car get hit by that blue one over there." She said, pointing across the street.
Marie hugged her little girl and then held her small face in the palms of her hands. "Cindy, honey, mommy and daddy are going to be just fine. Nothing is going to happen to us. What you saw was just a dream. We all have strange dreams from time to time. Now let's get going okay?" She stood and taking her daughter's hand once more they headed down the street before Cynthia stopped again.
"But mommy, Gramma and aunt Beff said I should always listen to my dreams. They said my dreams can tell me a lot of stuff."
Marie rolled her eyes and shook her head, looking down at her daughter. "Do you always listen to what Gramma and Aunt Beth tells you?"
Cynthia paused a moment as if to consider her mother's question. "Well, yes. I love them and we have so much fun. Yesterday, they were showing me things about different plants and insects and little animals... and also we go and sing around the place where they make the fire in the yard. And also they showed me how to make a house around my body. They said it was called a shield."
Cynthia seemed so excited that Marie couldn't bring herself to burst her bubble so instead she made a mental note to go and have a long heart felt talk with her mother and aunt. She had made it quite clear that she didn't want her daughter brought up this way. She wanted her to have nothing but a normal childhood, not one full of spells, chanting and magical mumbo jumbo. Marie had been told that she was a witch when she was a child. The different chants, spells and energy work, along with the celebrations around the fire all became a normal part of her everyday life. She hadn't known that she was different from other children her age. One day, when Marie was nine years old, she told her best friend, Alicia, about some of the things her family did. Alicia had gone and told several other kids in her class and they had all made fun of her, one boy even physically hurt her when he pushed her down in the school hallway. The principal had heard about what was going on and threatened to call the authorities and have Marie removed from her home, claiming it was an unsafe environment. The torment and ridicule that she had gone through had been traumatizing, to say the least, and she had decided never to practice any form of magic again. She most certainly didn't want Cynthia being taught those things. She couldn't imagine what she would do if her daughter had to go through that kind of hell. She had made her wishes clear to her mother and aunt and it angered her that they would do anything behind her back.
She walked Cynthia the rest of the way to the school entrance before giving her another big hug. "Mommy and daddy love you very much, you know that, right? Now I want you to go and try to have a good day and I will be right here waiting when you get out."
