The Shadow Anthology

Jenny

There was no traffic outside the Smith household. Two cars were frozen on the driveway as six people warmed in the house. Outside there was quiet and only the gentle touch of snow could be heard. The interior resembled the pensive, prayerful atmosphere of a church. Jennifer sat down to eat beside her father and husband. Opposing her was Amelia Layheart, along with her father and husband.

Christmas this year felt the weight of an anvil crushing it down. Jennifer's new house lay only a few streets from her childhood home, but she still felt an obligation to pick up her ageing father. Her home was larger than most in the area, though still smaller than what she had grown up in. There was a master bedroom to be shared by herself and her husband, a guest bedroom for Graham tonight, and two more rooms for Alicia, her husband and her father. However, the couple planned to fill these rooms in a different manner shortly.

Downstairs there was a broad kitchen where Jennifer and Lee had spent countless hours cooking in preparation of today. There was an elongated living room structured with a perimeter of filled bookshelves, which husband and wife had been individually cultivating over their years. The dining room, where all were now seated, was the household favourite. There was an extensible mahogany table varnished with intricate carvings, a wine cabinet that safely locked away their investments, and a bay window which displayed colourful crystals emanating a phosphorescent glow.

Amelia had been dating Danny Cray for six years and they had now been married for two. He was rather short, but his wife was intensely attracted to him. His stupidity knew no bounds; in place of brain tissue he had been given raging muscles. These were invaluable for his work as a fireman out in the field. However, when confronted with an intellectual battle of wits against his wife for whose surname they would take after the wedding, Cray pitifully receded.

The woman's life had also recently been blessed by the oncoming of a child, which she now held inside of her. The baby was no accident and they had been trying to conceive it for some time. Jennifer and Lee were also thinking of raising a child of their own but were still contemplating the matter. Both of them deeply wanted to start a family, though how soon they wanted to do so was unsure. Lee often argued the current absence of schools and parks, which left the area barren and joyless. While Jennifer retorted the great transport available to them which used to take her to school, as well as the presence of a local National Park.

Silence shackled itself to the dinner table in preparation for its prisoners. Half way through the meal, Alicia felt the baby kick her and subsequently began to cry. Her husband wrapped her in his arms, but she couldn't stop the flow. He smoothed her hair and soothed her sobbing until she stopped, realising all eyes were on her.

Their attention was then diverted from one woman to the other as Jennifer let out a subdued whimper. It then became apparent to the onlookers that she had been stifling her own crying to allow her friend to cope with her own. Jennifer trembled trying to quieten herself, but her husband took her in his arms and just held her selflessly to try and calm her.

Graham's hands shook as he watched his daughter cry. He looked down at his food and tried to lift his fork, barely taking it off the plate. He was an old man and he knew it. His frailty scared him. Jennifer sobbed on, causing Amelia to revert to a child as well.

An avalanche of tears swept over the table. Amid their emotions, Graham had only one hope: the uncaring and unmoving lighthouse that sat static, opposite him. He had barely spoken a word to Amelia's father in years, so hope slowly drifted away from his grasping hands as he drowned in their sea. His despair froze him to the spot, though still he trembled. Quiet tears rolled down his cheeks as he began to feverishly spasm. Graham fell limply out of his chair, blacking out for the last time. Jennifer had lost two parents this year.