Everything is Wonderful Now

Chapter Two

"I don't want to be here anymore."

The young girl stared at the floor with long blond hair falling in her face. She couldn't look at her mom, but she didn't know why. Her dad always said she should try harder to overcome what was bothering her inside, but she couldn't conquer something she knew nothing about. She wasn't sick. Her mom, Kate, made absolutely sure her doctor told her that, even if he seemed concerned when he did.

"What do you mean, sweetie?" Kate finally focused on her daughter. She'd been engrossed in Jerry Springer — a rare chance since her husband was on the road for another few weeks.

The young girl shrugged and sighed. "I don't know. I just don't want to be here." She glanced at her mom to see that look. The look she hated more than anything because it put her on the spot, and her cheeks burned hot with shame.

Kate smiled affectionately and patted the green sofa beside her. "Come here. You want to watch a movie? Princess Goblin? That's your favorite, isn't it?"

Sera fell onto the couch and stared at the floor. She didn't want to watch cartoons or go through the usual routine. It was the best way her mom knew to distract her from panic attacks, but tonight Sera was calm. The serenity she'd found frightened her in some ways, but she couldn't piece together an explanation that would make sense. All she knew was that she wanted to go to sleep and not wake up.

Sera mumbled as her mom brushed some of her hair aside, "The Princess and the Goblin."

"Alright. Sit still." Kate stood to open the VHS cabinet while Sera stared listlessly across the room.

Their dog, Bear, a Chow, came shuffling in with her purple tongue hanging out, and her perky ears and soft fluff brought Sera a sign of comfort. Bear stole Kate's spot and the young girl laid her head against a sandy-colored warmth. The familiar sound of the VCR accepting the tape resounded in the quiet room, save for the clock that struck midnight.

"Hey, mom?" Sera slid off the sofa as Kate returned with a bowl of macaroni and cheese.

"What's wrong, sweetie?"

"Can I just go to bed?"

Concern washed over Kate's features. "You don't want to watch your favorite movie?"

Sera shook her head and made her way toward the dark hallway. Memories resurfaced of the last time she'd sleepwalked down it. Dream visions of a beautiful field of flowers beneath a blue sky comforted her before she regained consciousness. Her hands were outstretched to touch the slatted white doors of the hall closet, and she fell to the floor. Out cold.

The girl shivered as a familiar panic threatened to shake her. She didn't like uncomfortable memories because they only brought the possibility of them happening again, which wasn't an option. She hurried the rest of the way to her small bedroom and closed the door behind her. She waited to see if her mom had followed, but it seemed she was finally alone. Which is the way it needed to be.

A large double speaker tape deck powered to life. Sera carefully selected one of her favorite cassette tapes — Beautiful Garbage by Garbage — and dropped onto her metal frame twin bed. She closed her eyes and waited for the woeful tones of Shirley Manson to lull her to sleep, but no such sleep came. The day had worn her down so much that she was too tired to sleep. Silly.

A slight breeze rustled her collection of Spice Girls dolls. Sera sat up from where she'd been contemplating the best way to stop seeing anything at all, and she noticed nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe the wall shelves had come loose.

Another cold breeze. It was obvious that time.

The girl dived under her comforter and pulled it up to her nose. If she was certain of anything right then, it was that monsters did not dare to harm someone beneath the safety of their blanket. The closet door she made certain to always close creaked before a feeling of being watched alarmed her. Sera swallowed hard when the sensation of a hand brushing over the comforter triggered trembling. Her blanket was yanked to the bottom of the bed and she was left vulnerable — out in the open for the monsters to consume.