Cowering,
Ducking in the corner of your room,
You try to hide yourself from the pain on the other side of the door,
The yelling,
The fighting,
Every word makes you cringe,
You're hiding from the fight,
Hiding from the fear you feel on the inside,
It gets closer to your door,
So you run to the cover of your bed,
The closet is too far,
So under the bed you go,
It gets worst before it ends,
The yelling is louder than ever,
You cover your ears,
Hold your eyes shut,
To block out the noise,
You're scared,
You're worried,
Worried for your Mommy,
It's not just her though,
He gets you too,
The bruises and cuts show the beatings you go through,
He says he loves you so why does he hit you?
The tears stream down your face,
You hide because he'll look for you soon,
You don't need to see it,
You can smell it from here,
The alcohol he consumes that start up your fear,
Your lights are out and you stay hidden,
Suddenly the screaming stops,
It's silent,
Has he halted?
You wonder and start to venture out when suddenly,
BANG,
The sound explodes through the silence,
Crashes into your ears,
Your mouth hangs open,
The sudden drop of your stomach hurts,
Your heart beats in your throat,
The shock overcomes you,
You stay silent,
You wait,
Maybe it's cause you're scared of maybe it's just the thought of what just happened is too much,
But you can't move,
You seem paralyzed,
Only one thought makes sense to you,
You hear muffled steps towards your door,
The suddenly it opens to a figure stepping through the light,
You look out from under the bed but can't see,
Then the sight before your eyes is overwhelming,
Your mother lies against floor barely breathing,
Horror covers her face and stills in her eyes,
The pool growing larger on the flower carpet,
The one you received from your father only a year earlier,
She smiles at you as you scurry towards her,
She mouths the words "I love you,"
The crying now a storm on your face,
You call her name but she can't hear you,
You scream at her.
Tell her to wake,
Only she doesn't answer,
You get up cause you hear it,
The thud, thud, thud of his footsteps,
You fall silent watching the door,
All the worry starts back up,
You try to think,
You need to hurry,
He's getting closer,
Calling out your name,
You turn to run,
The window only inches away,
But it's too late he stares, watching,
You see the anger play at his face,
His glare on you mother,
Lying dead on the floor,
A whimper escapes you,
Surprising both of you,
He looks at you with a smile,
You glance at the clock,
The tears streaming down your face,
The red numbers all go blurry,
You blink and blink,
Trying to see clearly,
Finally they are the brightest they've ever been,
11:55 p.m.
"Daddy?" you say all too unsteady,
"Aw baby don't be scared. Mommy's just sleeping."
The look in his eyes is wary,
It's unfamiliar,
A little too scary,
He's four feet away but you can smell it all too strong,
He's in a drunken rage,
He gives a chuckle and looks at you,
The clock now reading 11:58,
You try to scream but you can't manage,
The lump has gathered in your throat,
He raises the object,
The one that killed Mommy,
He smiles while your crying,
"Hey honey lookie there it's 12:00 o' clock. I can't forget."
You look but it's all too soon,
"Happy Birthday," he says,
As you close your eyes to the words,
He shoots,
You felt fear,
Now feel no more,
As your body hits the floor,
He sings the song as the cops filter in too late,
"Happy Birthday dear Trixie. Happy Birthday to you." he finishes,
A laugh erupts from his throat out his mouth,
They take him away,
A few hours later the paper reads,
Man Kills Wife and Daughter in Drunken Rage,
Below the headlines in eery black it says,
TODAY WAS HER BIRTHDAY,
LITTLE TRIXIE JUST TURNED THREE.
