Too little too late

Sally was born in the east, bursting forth as the dew had and later, blooming like the many roses in Sally’s mother’s garden. Sally could always be found out in that garden; the roses with their soft petals sparking the girls imagination of the faeries that lived inside.

Sally’s home was special, beautiful, something to long for when you’re gone. Even though the flowers were stunning, and the faeries magical, what really made this place home was the sporadic existence of the booming man.

When he came around, the booming man would go down into the roses and pull Sally out with his strong hands — each bigger than Sally’s whole world. Once caught, Sally would scream and the booming man would laugh. But the scream was not from pain, the laugh not from malice, so everything was fine.

“Where to?” The booming man boomed with such strength that even the crows were scared away.

“Spin me! Spin me!” Sally replied, “I want to know how the faeries feel!”

But the booming man just shook his head no — he wasn’t really here for Sally, he was here for the lady in the bed on the second floor. The lady was Sally’s mother and only a miracle could fix what she had.

Quietly, the booming man and Sally crept up the stairs, careful to hide their advances from the sleeping, fading mother. At the top of the stairs now, the daughter and father carefully approached the mother who lay motionless in the room at the end of the hall. Sally was glad she was with the booming man because the sight and smell of the mother terrified her.

“Knock, knock, knock…” the booming man pounded on the door.

“Come in” the mother rasped. The booming man and Sally had to strain to hear her, she was too weak to make her voice louder than a whisper.

Creak… the booming man pushed the door open to reveal a big bed whose sole occupant was a frail figure, slightly to the left of center. The figure on the bed sat up slowly and croaked at the daughter and father to come closer, they did. The mother motioned for Sally to sit the bed, she did. Slowly, Sally closed her eyes and laid down next to the mother, when she awoke the booming man was gone.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Three years ago, the booming man snuck in through the mother’s bedroom window at night, cut out her heart, and stole back to his new family. Although the booming man had been careful not to leave a mark, the mother woke the next day without any will to live. Even Sally’s presence didn’t help — no one who looked that much like the booming man would be able to provide much comfort.

Ever since then, the booming man would appear just as the roses were about to bloom, and leave once all of their petals had fallen away. A fair-weather father at best, but he was the only father Sally had.

Sally and the mother spent three winters waiting for the booming man to re-appear, and three summers wishing that he could stay forever, but he never did. The winter was for his other family, they needed him to keep them safe.

As winter came for the fourth year, the mother began to slip away. There was nothing that Sally could do, so she watched as the mother grew smaller and smaller until one day she disappeared completely. The faeries had gone for the winter, so Sally took comfort in herself and the knowledge that her father would soon come back.

For 5 months, Sally lived alone in that huge, dark house. She slept in the kitchen because the only warm thing left in the house was the stove. Every night before she fell asleep she imagined the booming man lifting her out of the roses and holding her in his arms. She couldn’t wait.

But when at long-last summer appeared, and the booming man returned, he found nothing of the roses, the mother, or his little girl. Instead, he found an empty home, a dead rose garden, and the nearly decayed corpses of a mom and her 5-year old daughter.

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