「ABSENCE」 TMNT 2012

5; Home

"Fresh," she whispered to herself in awe as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. "Fresh as a daisy."

    Elly delicately fingered a strand of silky, clean, brown hair. She smushed her rosy cheeks together and puckered her lips, making faces at herself. She couldn't explain what being clean after months of collecting sweat and grime felt like. She was as light as a feather. She could breath.

She picked up a bottle of her favorite perfume. Oh, how she'd missed smelling as clean as she felt. She brought it to her nose and sniffed.

    "Bleh!" Unfortunately, she inhaled too much scent and ended up choking and coughing for a good five minutes before returning to beautifying herself. She pinched her nose and batted at the air, trying to relieve herself of the overwhelming smell of strawberries that burned her nostrils.

When she could finally breath like a normal human being again, she sighed with relief. "Okay. Back to this," she resumed, gesturing to the haphazard pile of hygiene items. "Deodorant, face cream, a hairbrush. All things girls use day to day, right?" She glanced at the girl in the mirror for reassurance, who seemed to be sparkling, she looked so clean.

    "You're over dramatizing this," Elly scolded herself. "It's only been one hundred something days." Picking up her moisturizing cream, she began rubbing it all over her face whilst humming a random ditty. She patted her cheeks and smiled, checking the rosy glow from all angles. "Yes, I think that'll do."

    It didn't seem real, looking back at the past twelve hours. She wasn't the same person as she had been the day before, that was clear by the face staring back at her. Her dreams had become a reality, but reality didn't feel real to her. Everything that had happened must've been a dream. And if it was, she didn't ever want to wake up.

    "Elly? Are you alright?" Mom's soft voice drew Elly's attention away from her thoughts and to the doorway of the bathroom. Her mother watched her closely, a look of relief smoothing the lines of worry across her face, as if she'd been afraid her daughter hadn't actually returned home the night before.

Elly smiled and nodded. "Just getting ready for the day."

"I have to leave for work here in just a few minutes." She sighed. "I wish your dad and I could stay with you all day, but you know how it is."

"I'll be here the whole time, so don't worry about me. I know you're not ready for me to go out yet, and to be honest, I'm not either," Elly admitted. After what had happened, she needed a little time to get over the fear of being snatched up and carried off again.

    Her mom stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her daughter, planting a gentle kiss atop her head. "I'm so glad you're back," she whispered.

    Elly melted into her mother's embrace, loving the security it gave her. "Me too."

    Mom let go and turned to the door. "I'll be home by midnight at the latest. I love you."

    "Love you too."

    She lingered at the entrance to the bathroom a moment longer before hesitantly walking away. Elly watched her until she disappeared behind the front door, then turned back to prepping and primping. She smiled to herself, homesickness fading away completely.

When she looked up at herself, something about her surroundings didn't seem right. She frowned, staring hard into the reflective surface, trying to detect why the bathroom suddenly felt so off. It instantly became almost eerie. The white lights seemed to dim down to a yellow, and the apartment was more silent than she remembered it being just a few moments ago. She could hear the low him of the refrigerator, and the air swirling around. Perhaps she hadn't been paying as much attention to detail.

She felt exposed; unsafe. It was too quiet. It was never this quiet. She felt a menacing presence, like there were eyes watching her every move. But there was nothing unusual that she could see. There was the countertop, the shower, the toilet, herself, and–

"Knock knock."

The figure with the deep, dark grin leaning up against the edge of the doorframe.

    Elly's breath caught in her throat. She whipped around, unable to scream, unable to wrap her mind around this. How did this man get into her home? Why was he here? What did he want with her? How could she escape?

    She couldn't. He was blocking the only way out of the bathroom, and it was obvious he wouldn't let her leave. So she slowly backed up to the wall, eyeing him and preparing to use anything that sat near the sink as a weapon.

He was tall and buff, almost filling the whole width of the doorway. His clothing was black. All black. Form-fitting, black thermal, with long sleeves pushed up to his mid forearms, black jeans, and black shoes, polished and shined.

    "I said, knock knock." His voice rumbled to match his stormy eyes, gray as the thundering clouds outside that had just begun pouring rain. Those eyes intimidated her, as they had a flash of lightening like that which split through the sky.

She was confused. He couldn't really mean for her to answer his question, could he? But she risked it, because responding the way she did was the first thing she thought of. "Who's there?" She squeaked.

    He smirked, a look that sent shivers down her spine. "Cows go."

    Eyebrows furrowed, she spoke the required words. "Cows go who?"

    "No," he disagreed, tone serious as he stared her down. "Cows go moo." Suddenly, he bent over, clutching his stomach as a spiel of laughter erupted from his mouth. He strained to grab breaths in between as he wiped tears from his eyes and laughed until he was in pain.

    Elly squinted at him, wondering what on earth was wrong with this man. "Who are you?" She asked, slightly annoyed at his humor.

    All noise ceased again, and he straightened up, that dark expression returning to his scruffy face. "Most people call me Jeff. You can, too."