Mommy," the little girl cried out with her arms in the air.
"Please just tell me one story."
The older woman stopped near the door and looked at her daughter with tired
eyes. She walked back to her daughter's bed with a sigh. She kneeled on the
hard wooden floor and rested her chin on the side of the bed.
"Which story, my dearest?"
She ran her pale fingers through her daughter's silky brown hair which was
nearly identical to her own.
"I want to listen to the story where the vampire fell in love with a
human."
The woman's eyes flashed with pain.
"Honey… Haven't you heard that one enough times?"
"Please mommy?"
Her mother paused when she saw the pleading look in her daughter's eyes.
They were full of innocence and love. The little girl’s belief in love was
touching but it hurt the mother inside to admit that she had once succumbed to
that side of herself and it had ended in misery.
"Please? Just one more time?"
The woman felt her resolve shatter.
"Fine, just one more time."
She crawled herself into the small bed.
"Okay, so where do I start?"
She grinned at the little girl.
"I'm sure you know the story better than I do."
That was a solid lie. No one knew the story better than herself.
"Ooh, start with…"
The girl sat up straighter wearing a smile on her porcelain face.
"Once upon a time, in a small rainy town…"
"Oh, right. Once upon a time,
in a small rainy town known as Forks, Washington, there was a girl. She had
just moved from Arizona to live with her father. She had always been a bit
different and she never felt like she fit in with the others. Her mother told
her she was too mature for her own good. On her first day of school, she met a
boy. He was the most beautiful boy she had ever seen."
"But she thought he didn't like her."
"Yes." The little girl chuckled.
"She thought he didn't like her
but he did. He was like no one she had ever met before and it seemed like he
wanted nothing to do with her. One snowy day, she was almost hit by a truck but
he saved her and with that one accident, their fates became undeniably
intertwined. She was completely taken by him.”
"After that, he couldn't seem
to stay away from her. He followed her when she went to Los Angeles and saved
her from some very dangerous people. That night, he told her all about himself.
He told her he’s a vampire. He was scared she would run away.”
"However, she didn't. She
wasn't even scared. They began to spend more time together even though it was
risky because his identity might be exposed. He took her to a beautiful meadow
and told her how much he loved her.
"She met his family who became
her best friends. She loved them. They took her with them when they went out
for a dinner but they ran into other vampires.”
"These vampires were not like
the vampires in his family. They were mean and they hurt people. When they saw
how much the family protected her, their leader decided to hunt her to cause
pain for the family."
Her daughter let out a little shriek
and hid her face beneath the blanket. The woman's brown eyes looked at her
daughter with concern.
"Is it too scary?"
"No mommy. Keep going."
She sighed and closed her eyes.
"The family hid her at
somewhere safe. They thought she will be safe but she wasn't. The leader was
able to track her down. He tricked her into meeting him alone by telling her
that he captured…”
The woman’s voice trailed off and
she suddenly said in a stern voice, "Why do you want to hear this story?
It's much sadder than the others."
"I love this story. It seems more real than the others."
"Even with the vampires?"
"Who said vampires aren't real, mommy?"
The woman’s eyes showed a flicker of pain.
"Honey, are you sure you don't want me to tell you a fairytale? One with
princesses and fairies?"
"There is a fairy in your story, mommy."
She laughed.
"Yes, I suppose there is."
"Please keep going?"
"Oh, alright. Anyway, I'm almost at the end of it.”
"The evil vampire captured and
bit her but the vampire she was in love with sucked the venom out and saved her
life. He was still there when she woke up in the hospital the following day. He
told her he would stay with her for as long as she wanted. He also said he
wanted to be with her forever."
The woman’s voice cracked with the last words. He had lied. He left her without
any consideration for her feelings.
"Did they live happily ever
after?"
The woman swallowed the lump in her throat.
"Yeah, they lived happily ever after."
"I don't believe you." The little girl said with a yawn.
Her mother was shocked.
"Why not?"
"It’s because if they had lived happily ever after, you would be happy.
You would actually smile…"
The woman turned around and wiped
the tears from her cheeks. Sometimes she felt that her daughter was too similar
too her. She was too smart and wise for her age. She kissed her daughter's
forehead and secured the blanket around her tiny frame.
As she walked out of the room into
the hall, she began to wonder. If he loved her, would there be a happily ever
after to their story? Or would it just be another sad ending?
He promised her forever. He'd lied.
She had tried to move on like he wanted her to but she couldn't.
Suddenly, she became aware of the
knocking on the front door. She blinked away the pricking tears in her eyes and
trudged down the stairs to the door. She opened it slightly and standing there
was the hero of her daughter's stories.
"Bella…" He whispered with
a smooth enticing voice.
She gasped and stumbled backwards as she recognises the man that she had been
waiting for a long time. However this time, there might actually be a happily
ever after to their story.
