And I Waited Until Spring

Chapter 3: Cake For One

Today was a very special day. Vanny had gotten up early to prepare for tonight.

She wasn't good at many 'normal' hobbies, but she had learned to bake cakes quite well in the past.

As soon as she had found out that William's favorite flavor was red velvet, she set out to learn how to make the best red velvet cake she could possibly bake. It took quite a few attempts for her to make it just the way that William had liked, but he had been very pleased and surprised when she had woken him up on his birthday with the enticing scent of his favorite dessert. She made a cake for him every year after that; it didn't matter if he was around anymore to eat it.

The first time William's birthday came and went with him absent was hard on her, but she found comfort in baking his cake and consuming it all over a period of several days.

She had drug that yellow rabbit suit back out on that first lonely birthday to set up in William's chair at the table. She had sung to it, then presented it with a slice of cake. It smiled at her like it always did but didn't partake in the sugary dessert.

Maybe he wasn't hungry...?

Despite having told herself that she wouldn't, Vanny had broken her own rule of not dragging the suit out to converse with; but it was for a special occasion! Taking it out once a year was acceptable, she rationalized. There was a huge difference between spending every day with it and one day a year with it. It was William's birthday, after all. She couldn't celebrate it alone.

Vanny would spend William's birthdays with the empty suit; giving it cake in the early morning and talking to it throughout the day. The rabbit kept her company and watched movies with her as the day drug on. She would tell it how she was doing as if William were inside, listening to every word she spoke with great interest. Vanny referred to it as William, and she did a somewhat decent job of convincing herself that he was in there. It was just for one day, she would remind herself. Taking one day to pretend that all was well wouldn't drive her completely insane. She would snuggle against the suit that night, then return it to its place inside of the closet in the morning.

It was only once a year that she really pulled it out to converse with. She would check on it throughout the rest of the year occasionally to make sure that no mice or anything of the sort had been damaging it, but kept it secluded in darkness for the majority of the time.

Today was William's birthday, and as had become customary, Vanny drug the rabbit out just like she had done for the past seven years. William had been gone for seven years.

Vanny had never been questioned about the teenager's disappearance two years ago. He had apparently become rather troublesome with his parents and it was suspected that he had skipped town. He'd always complained about how terrible Hurricane was.

Vanny was never a suspect, yet the town's weariness of her lingered.

She was a weird recluse who had killed her boyfriend.

Vanny hadn't really been mentally well seven years ago, but her sanity had thinned even more since then. The only human interaction she ever had was when she went into town once every week or two. What was the point of going into town? She had William right here in front of her.

Vanny smiled up at the rabbit sitting at the end of the kitchen table. He hadn't touched his birthday cake as per usual, but Vanny was enjoying her own slice with a giddy smile plastered to her face.

"I had a dream about you last night." Vanny began as she set her fork down for the time being.

The rabbit waited for her to continue patiently; never interrupting like the gentleman he was.