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Chapter 1
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2024-10-29 19:42:56NOAH
I was only 3 years old when my dad killed my mom. It was more of an accident; he unintentionally left the stove open. The LPG particles kept dashing out through the holes of the stovetop; the moment mom lit up her scented candle, tiny flares transformed into a blaze that grasped the appearance of a galactic fire roaring at the lake before it. Jenny and I were squabbling about who would get the chance to throw the ball for Coco first, as she stood beside me wagging her tail avidly, expecting any one of us to pitch the ball in the air at any moment for her to tail.Dad perceived fumes rushing out of the window of our lake house from hundred yards. He hurriedly sprinted towards the house and unbolted the door, only to discover an inferno that had engulfed the entire residence from inside and was dashing towards the rooftop. Mom was scarcely visible to dad’s sight. He was continuously crying her name at the top of his lungs and strived to breach the barrier of flames a couple of times but failed to get in.It took thirty minutes for the firefighters to exterminate the flames. Mom gave up the ghost on the spot; she laid lifeless before our eyes. The sheets of her skin sloughed off her body; the blackened chunks of flesh were endlessly smoldering, the blood bubbling as it oozed out of her veins. Jenny burst into tears following a glimpse at mom’s body; dad seemed to refuse to recognize the reality and shattered into shards when he became aware of the cause of the fire. I stood adjacent to mom with parched eyes wide open; I wanted to move; I tried not to look at her, but it felt like I no longer could control my body. I was terrified, numb, traumatized all at once, and then I suffered tinnitus for a couple of minutes before losing consciousness.Dad abandoned the idea of ever going back to the lake house, but Jenny and I got it renovated and hired a caretaker to look after that house. It was one of the places that mom cherished the most, and there I stood before it after losing everything, precisely 25 years later. Marley, the caretaker, had left 2 years ago. I never bothered to hire someone else. The seal was broken. I stepped forward meticulously, making the most effort to make little to no sound. It felt like the air was different inside, uncanny, throwing that traumatic event in front of my eyes scene by scene. I juddered my head and proceeded; the sound of shutting and opening cabinets flew into my ears. I advanced towards the kitchen."Mom?"
I swallowed. My heart began pumping rapidly. I was scared and eager to see what she looks like now. She had gotten skinnier.
That lavender scent she always used, engulfed me. It was Jenny's favorite too. She had her floral dress on; its flounce concealed her ankles, leading to a gash that stretched to the bridge of her left foot.
That was strange. I never saw a wound on her foot like that before. My mind wasn't looking for an explanation. It didn't bother to think that how am I seeing her. How was she standing before my naked eyes?
I just knew she was there. And I was glad that my mother stood before me.
She stopped. Stood steady. Then turned around, stepped back an inch, stumbled upon a metal can, and plunged to the ground. In a rush, the words tumbled out of her mouth.
“Wait! I can explain.”
That wasn't my mother. I crinkled my eyes as my heart skipped a beat. Mom's gone, Noah. I told myself.
On the ground sat a girl with hazel eyes. A Series of freckles ran from the left zygomatic bone through the nasal bone to the right zygomatic bone. She had sea-nymph ears and a dainty nose, all set on an alabaster diamond-shaped face. I offered her my hand; that wound on her heel was still fresh. She jumped to her feet on her own and helped herself to the couch.
“Who’re you?”
“It rained heavily yesterday and this morning; I had nowhere to go to, so I broke the seal and got in.”
“You don't have a home?”
“No …”
My sight fell on the blood oozing out of the wound on her heel. I kept on questing myself. I was so stupid to believe the fact that mom was standing right in front of me. I missed her. I needed to see her, to talk to her, one last time. I needed to tell her that I was left alone. That I no longer had Jenny, or dad by my side. She probably knows that.
The girl gazed at me. Or at the tears building in my eyes.
“I will get you something to clean it up.” I gestured towards her foot.
I climbed up the staircase and went to Jenny’s room to grab the first aid kid from my suitcase. I stepped in and couldn’t hold back my tears as I laid my eyes on mom, gazing at the lake and twinkling at the giggles of Jenny and dad. I proceeded to nudge her; she turned to dust and dissolved into the air in a flash. As soon as I flashed back to reality, I grabbed the first aid box and climbed down the stairs.
As I handed her the cotton and Pyodine, she lightly brushed the cotton soaked in medicine over the wound. That wasn’t enough to clean it out.
“May I?”
She shook her head and pressed the cotton harder this time, so the medicine will ooze into the wound.
“What can I help you with?”
“I was looking for something to eat.”
“Um … we don’t have any food here; you can stay for a while; I’ll get you something.”
“You don’t have to...”I glanced at her; in the fullness of time, I hadn’t felt condolence for anyone but her.
“It’s alright… I insist.”I exited the house, nothing was visible, till the farthest point my vision ran, except for the dense greenery. I contemplated the lake, expecting any fish. My brain took a trip down the memory lane when dad trained us about the correct technique of catching a fish. Lay the whole piece of cloth over the surface of the water, hold the two corners of it tightly with the tip of your fingers firmly, and bide your time until the fish is in the middle of the cloth. When it approaches the center, briskly seize all the other sides and pull it out of the water.
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NOAH The meal I rustled up was narrowly edible. I placed the melamine plate, holding a gloomy bland fish, on the table before her. “I know it’s barely edible, but this is all that was present; no one lived here for over a long time, so we don’t have any groceries stocked.” “Oh, it’s more than enough. Thank you.” The girl sited on the couch wordlessly, consuming the fish flake by flake, unveiling no expressions. She was stern. Seeing her limp out of the house, I said, “It’s totally okay if you want to stay here until you can walk properly.” “Nah, I’m fine.” “You sure? The weather doesn’t look so appealing.” “I’ll be fine.” A dense layer of dark clouds concealed the sky; as the howling of gales worsened, she gradually diminished into the dark forest. I admired the hefty picture frame right before my eyes. It covered almost entire wall. I skimmed off the accumulated dust particles over dad’s nose. Life is a harsh truth; it abandons you with the last thing you ever
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That Night in the Woods Chapter 5
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That Night in the Woods Chapter 6
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OLIVIA I opened the door and let the ward boys in. They unbolted the handcuffs, grasped both of Noah’s arms, and took him to Lane’s office through a narrow hallway. I could tell he was in anguish, in extreme agony. Lane is one of the senior psychiatrists at The Montana Mental Health Institution. He is a white bald man, who appears as a beast but has a heart of an angel. No one in this place is capable of controlling the patients in the way he does. I recollect a memory when we had a patient named Arthur Brown. He was huge and menacing. Nobody would dare to go within his reach, this man used to sit beside him when he was not handcuffed. To everyone’s astonishment, Lane would walk out of Arthur’s room alive and untouched. Noah sat in the chair before Lane’s desk, he seemed drowsy. His long grey sleeves reached till his fingers; he was staring at Lane with a piercing glare. “I’m going to spend the next couple of sessions interrogating you about your health and life. Is that okay wi
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That Night in the Woods Chapter 9
Olivia 4 days later I rotated the doorknob and pushed it open. Noah lay in the dark on his bed snoring. I pressed the switch on the wall on my right to light up one of the bulbs. On swinging the curtains to one side, the glimmering golden coin set in the sky beamed at me. “Hey good, you’re up. How are you feeling?” “Pretty good actually. Way better,” Noah uttered reposing his head on the headboard of his bed. Rude awakening. Last night he sited on his thin mattress with his prominent cheekbones descended, head hung with a feeling of blue. Those symptoms were divulging something significant. The evening I first encountered him he was reluctant to be injected but then in a few moments, he didn’t resist at all. “Great, do you think that you’re ready to go out to the cafeteria, for breakfast?” “Yeah,” he exclaimed. He scooted off to the hallway. The chimes of my phone tore through the air. It was Lane. “Hey, how’s it going?” “Well. I wanted to check on that guy Noah,
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That Night in the Woods Chapter 33
OliviaEzra, Alyssa, and I perched in the waiting area. I wondered if this was the hospital she worked at. But if she worked here, then why was she sitting with us and not on her duty? She probably was employed in some other hospital or a nursing agency. My heart was throbbing. Any of the veins attached to it could explode any moment sending me up there to God. Every time a nurse passed by, my body was ready to jump up to listen to what they had to say. Hopefully, they’d tell us that she’s alright now. And we can go meet her. And probably take her home with us a few hours later. My sight fell over Ezra’s fidgeting fingers. She appeared as anxious as I was. A faint smell of medicine which was continuously lingering around my nose grew stronger. I lay another glance at Ezra. She looked like her name. A nice middle-aged lady with short hair and a fair complexion. Which made me think if she looked like her name in her teens. I don’t know about other people but that is what an Ezra would
That Night in the Woods Chapter 32
OliviaThen“Then his toes were minced. It was so--““Wait, hold on. Why are you watching those movies, Alyssa?”She gazed at my hands over which smeared the foam from the dish soap. I stopped scrubbing the plate for a moment and looked her in the eye. That was so messed up. We were barely able to keep an eye on her. “It was on the TV,” her volume dropped.“Not everything that they show on the TV is for you to watch.”I sat the plate in the basin after sponging, then reached the foamy sponge to the bottom of the blender jug.“But I didn’t have anything to do. You’re always busy doing something. We don't even go out anymore.” Her tone was getting whiny. Like it always does when she sees me serving dinner. Abruptly, a river of things that enrage me seeped into my brain. Yes, my brain was striving to make itself understand that she was a little child. A little child who was boiling my blood at the moment. Who was setting me on fire. I didn’t want this either. I wasn’t fond of washing d
That Night in the Woods Chapter 31
Olivia Then Two Months Later I stood before the stove, the sole of my foot resting on the side of my knee. As the bubbles started appearing over the pancake, I stuck the spatula beneath it and flipped it over. The pancake liberated a sweet and buttery aroma, only because I added butter essence. But, it would taste like crap. I could only make scrumptious pancakes using the mix. But they were way too expensive. We were running out of money. Dad’s bank accounts had been emptied. And after mom’s medicine, we only had a couple of hundred dollars left at home. She wasn’t in a condition to work. She could barely get out of bed lately. The future appeared dark to me. We hadn’t heard about dad since the cops took him. Mom could barely take care of herself, and Alyssa and I were left on our own. The stress, of how everything will end up, was catching up to me. The ringing of the house phone tore through my eardrums, making the sizzling noises unnoticeable. I set my foot on the ground, flip
That Night in the Woods Chapter 30
OLIVIA20 years ago“When your parents tell you to back off, you back off Olivia!” mom scolded me with one hand on her waist and the other holding her phone.“But--““I don’t want to hear any ifs and buts, young lady. What if someday your dad has to bear the consequences of your actions like this? Huh?” she interrupted.Alyssa gazed at us. I shot a glance at her. She was petrified. “I’m sorry.”The hand on her waist went down with a sigh. She dialed a number on the phone and walked into another room. Guilt engulfed me as mom’s words sauntered into my mind. I just wanted to be a good daughter. I wanted to protect him like he provided a shield for us. I knew my father was innocent. ****Mom had been strolling around the house, with the phone in one hand tapping her nails on it. Alyssa perched on the couch, peeling the skin on her lips, staring at mom. My stomach grumbled. But I was too stressed to eat something. “It’s okay girls. Don’t worry your dad will be alright.”Mom sat beside
That Night in the Woods Chapter 29
NOWNOAHElla lay curled up in bed. A white mushy blanket wrapped around her, eyes squeezed shut. I drew open the curtains and went back outside to grab the breakfast tray and bouquet of roses, which I ordered this morning. Holding the tray in one hand and flowers behind my back with the other, I gushed, “good morning WiFi!”She wrinkled her nose, cheeks raised up, a pout on her face with a hint of a smile.“No,” Ella shook her head, “No.”“No?” I asked.“Yeah--no.” She let out a chuckle.“I thought you’d like some breakfast in bed, with a thing I got here in the back.” I raised an eyebrow and beamed at her. “About the WiFi thing silly.” I knew she was talking about the ‘WiFi’ thing. I adored how my cringe pet names wrinkled her nose every time. She rested her back against the bed’s headboard, still enveloped in the blanket. I placed the tray before her, in which sat a stack of perfectly cooked souffle pancakes. Perfectly cooked according to her, overcooked in my opinion. She love
That Night in the Woods Chapter 28
NOW OLIVIA Tracy gazed at a band of white light over which sat a cluster of uncountable stars. As I ran my eyes down from the top, the dark blue tint altered into a dull purple. With descending height the hues kept on changing, from purple to a rose beige to the lightest shade of yellow. All of that sat over a dark tone of the blue-greyish background. The Milkyway band before our eyes walked as slow as a person stuck in quicksand. We were in a planetarium. They cast a Milkyway band over the ceiling, which appeared domed, tricking everyone’s eyes that it was real. I found it fascinating that humans were able to see what lies light years away. And the accurate projection of it was spectacular. It was one of the items on Tracy’s bucket list, to go stargazing. Even though doctors said that we could, I was paranoid. I didn’t want to risk her life by taking her more than a hundred miles away from the hospital to a star-gazing sight. Her condition has gotten worse as compared to the week
That Night in the Woods Chapter 27
OLIVIA 13th August, Monday, 1990 My eyes opened up to the beams of sunlight crashing in through the window. Alyssa was still asleep. I got to my feet and drew the curtains shut so that she did not wake up by the bright light. The clock struck nine in the morning. My stomach was grumbling. I didn’t have dinner last night. I could eat a horse and still be famished. I opened the door and shut it gently as I walked out of the room. My eyes caught dad grinning from ear to ear, holding moms hands, leaning over the kitchen countertop. I rubbed my eyes hard and widened them to make sure it wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t! My heart did a backflip. I was euphoric that he was back. And he was alright. At least physically there was no visible damage. He has been gone for a long time. “You look ravishing, honey.” Dad’s smile widened.”I missed you girls.” I sprinted into the kitchen and hugged dad from the back. “I missed you too dad. Where have you been?” I asked him. He turned around and hugged
That Night in the Woods Chapter 26
Noah It had been over a month since Olivia yanked my heart out of my chest and chopped it into a million pieces. It still is divided into a million pieces that I have scattered now. I wasn't prepared to believe her. My mind wasn't ready to believe this atrocious truth. I just wanted to sleep. I didn't want to feel anything. I didn't want to feel this air engulfing me. This mushy bed, I was sitting on. The body my soul dwelled in. I just wanted to stop. Stop feeling everything. Every time I hear her words heat of anguish arises in my body and soul. The fury takes over. I couldn't control myself when it happened two weeks ago. I slammed the door shut pounding my head over it, expecting the physical pain to put an end to that agony inside of me. It didn't go away. I smacked the glass window with my bare hands until the shards of glass punctured my hand. It still didn't go away. It won't ever go away. I wanted to do it again. I wanted to hurt myself for believing she existed. I wanted t
That Night in the Woods Chapter 25
Olivia Sunday 24th June 1990 We were having the time of our lives. Alyssa's fifth birthday was right around the corner when she desired to go to Hawaii. She didn't say that she wanted to go to Hawaii. Last Friday, we were sitting on the patio after dinner. I rested my head on the armchair's backrest, with one hand over my bloated stomach, holding back a burp because mom taught us that it was discourteous to let out a loud belch around people. I couldn't help cramming that delicious salmon and sweet potato wedges in my mouth. Dad swiped through the images of travel destinations on his tablet, racking his brain that what will be our destination for the family vacation. We go on vacation twice every year. On my and Alyssa's birthday then Mom and Dad's birthday each year alternatively. While he was swiping through photos of some of the eye-catching places in Hawaii, Alyssa, who was dangling over the armrest of Dad's chair, pointed at one of the pictures and screamed with excitement, "I
