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Gentle rain pattered gently against the small bathroom window, creating a soft cacophony to join the quiet hum of toothbrushes. On the countertop sat a small girl, no older than four, playing with a stuffed seal in her arms and a hands-free toothbrush in her mouth. She had raven dark hair down to her waist and brilliant green eyes that shone like tree leaves after a morning drizzle. Stood beside her was a woman of middling age with short, dark brown hair and ocean blue eyes, whiling away with her own mechanical toothbrush. After a few moments of thorough brushing, the woman spat out her toothpaste and rinsed her mouth out. As she finished up, the little girl’s also stopped buzzing.
“Mmhma!” She mumbled through her toothbrush.
“Hold on, Addy.” The woman nodded. She grabbed a small cup and filled it with some water before taking the toothbrush out of the child’s mouth, “Here. Rinse. Just like I taught you.” As young Addy reached out to take the cup, the poor stuffed seal fell to the ground, causing her to whine loudly.
“Rinse, silly girl!” Her mother sighed, “I’ll get Mister Fluff.” She bent over and picked up the sad seal as Addy drank the water, putting him on the counter behind her while Addy swished the water in her mouth. Mom then gathered up Addy’s hair to keep it out of her face.
“And spit!” She nodded. Addy spit all the water into the sink.
“All good?” Addy looked up at her mother.
“Almost, just got one last part.” Mom chuckled. She reached over and grabbed a container of floss. Addy pulled back, grabbing Mister Fluff and hiding her face behind him.
“Nooo…” She whined.
“Adelaide.” Mom said firmly, “I know you don’t like this part, but it’s very important for your teeth. I’ll be as gentle as I can, I promise.” Adelaide scooched forward, but remained hidden behind Mister Fluff.
“Adelaide.” Mom sighed, “C’mon now. It’ll be quick.” She gently pushed Mister Fluff away from Adelaide’s face, much to her daughter’s protests. With one hand still firmly grasped onto the little seal, Adelaide reluctantly opens her mouth. With practiced motion, Mom got the floss through the little one’s teeth with some resistance and pouty grunts. Once she was sure Addy’s teeth were all nice and flossed, she tossed the string into a small waste basket beneath the sink.
“There, all better.” Mom smiled, “Can I see that nice, beautiful smile?” Adelaide looked up at her and gave her a tooth-filled grin.
“All done.” She said in a sing-song tone.
“Yup, all done.” Mom nodded agreement, “Now let’s get to bed.” She scooped Adelaide off the counter and into her arms, who in turn snuggled into her mother’s shoulder as best she could. As Mom left the bathroom and turned off the light, Adelaide looked up at her.
“Mama?” She asked, her voice small.
“What is it dear?” Mom looked over at her, shutting the bathroom door mostly closed. Adelaide gave her the biggest puppy eyes she could muster.
“Can I have a cookie?” She asked, giggling.
“A cookie?” Mom asked, feigning a touch of shock in her voice.
“Yeah!” Adelaide giggled.
“But we already had cookie time.” Mom shook her head.
“I didn’t get one.” Adelaide said, trying her best to turn her smile into a pout.
“You didn’t get one?” Mom asked.
“That’s right!” Adelaide nodded, still trying her best to keep that pout on her face.
“Addy.” Mom said, giving her daughter a stern look.
“What?” Adelaide continued to pout.
“Adelaide.” Mom said again, “I saw you eat one.”
“So?” Adelaide shook her head, her mouth starting to break into a grin.
“Soooo, no more cookies.” Mom chuckled.
“But Moooom.” Adelaide whined.
“No buts.” Mom shook her head, “Besides, if you ate another cookie, we’d have to brush your teeth again. Which means” She looked her daughter right in the eyes, “I’d have to floss your teeth again.”
“NOO!” Adelaide wailed, throwing the entirety of her tiny body into her mother’s shoulder and burying her face into her neck. She moved with such force that poor Mister Fluff was sent tumbling to the floor again, “Ah! Fluff!”
“I got him, I got him.” Mom chuckled, scooping Mister Fluff off the cold, hard carpet. He was immediately absorbed into a tight hug from Adelaide. Mom brushed some fingers through her raven hair, “What am I going to do with you, baby bird?”
“Love me?” Adelaide looked up at her with those same pleading puppy dog eyes.
“Hmph….with all my heart.” Mom chuckled softly, before nuzzling her forehead against Adelaide’s.
“And give me a cookie!” She shrieked.
“Adelaide, no!” Mom laughed, tickling her daughter’s sides. The pout that had so held firm the entire exchange gave way to smiles and giggles, “How about a kiss instead?”
“Mmmm…” Adelaide thought to herself, before laying her head on Mom’s shoulder, “Yes please.” Mom leaned down and kissed her forehead.
“Can Mom have one too?” She asked. Adelaide stuffed her face into Mom’s neck and shook her head, “No? Well, that’s ok. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Mom carried on carrying her down the hallway and entered the room on the right. The room was lit up with the soft purple glow of a child’s night light in the far right corner and contained a small desk and a child sized bed with dark violet covers. On the walls were two crude drawings of a crow and a seal done in crayon, and beside the bed was a small black bookshelf with a few short books resting flat on its shelves. Mom gently tucked Adelaide into her bed, pulling the covers just up to her neck as Adelaide adjusted to have Mister Fluff fit cozily in her arms.
“All comfy?” Mom asked. Adelaide slowly nodded her head, “Alright then.” Mom started to get up, but a tiny hand grabbed the sleeve of her pajama top.
“Can…can I have a story?” Adelaide asked, her voice quiet.”
“Why, of course you can!” Mom smiled at her. She turned to the little bookshelf and started picking through the books, “Which one should we read tonight?”
“No!” Adelaide said suddenly.
“No?” Mom looked over at her, “What do you mean no?”
“I want you to tell me a story.” She hid her face behind Mister Fluff, who looked up at Mom with equal confusion.
“You want me…to tell you a story?” Mom said slowly. She thought for a moment before a light went off in her head, “Oh, you want me to make a story up for you?”
“Mhmm.” Adelaide nodded. Mom took a deep breath and knelt beside the bed.
“Make up a story, huh?” She mused to herself, “I’m not very good at that sort of thing, but I’ll do my best.
“It’ll be good.” Adelaide nodded, “Cause it’s your story.”
“My story, eh?” Mom closed her eyes and thought hard for a moment, “I think I have one. Are you ready?” She looked down at Adelaide, who in turn wiggled deeper into her bed, “Alrighty then.”
Once upon a time, in a land far away and over the ocean, there was a kingdom. This kingdom was ruled by a very negligent king and a really cruel queen. Though the king was very good at his job and the land prospered, its people were deeply unhappy. While the king would be away working, the queen would abuse the people under her. She mocked their struggles and would sometimes take people and humiliate them in front of everyone. The people would complain to the king, but instead of helping them, he simply kept to himself and his work, and the abuse continued.
The king and queen also had a daughter, and this princess was the jewel of the kingdom. The people loved and adored her, for she was a kind and gentle soul. Sadly, the king never paid her much attention, so she couldn’t learn the ways of being a ruler, and the queen was only interested in using her as a prop for her own appearances. Sometimes she’d even force the princess to join in her humiliations of the people, and if she refused the queen would hurt her.
One day, the king left the kingdom to go fight a long battle against a nearby land. The queen decided it was the perfect time to take a vacation, so she left as well. She also decided she wanted some personal time, so she left the young princess behind. All on her lonesome, the princess cried, for she had not yet learned to rule and she was afraid she would be hurt for anything she did do. Seeing her so troubled, a kind maid of the castle decided that she had seen enough. On a clear, starry night, with only the moon to guide her, she spirited the princess away and the pair fled across the ocean. Once they were finally safe, the maid would raise the princess as her own child, and they lived happily, ever after.
Mom stroked Adelaide’s hair gently as she ended the story. Adelaide looked up at her with excited eyes.
“Is that a true story?” She asked.
“I mean, all stories have some amount of truth in them, I guess.” Mom chuckled, “But, that’s not something you should really worry about.”
“We should put it into a book.” Adelaide nodded.
“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed it so much.” Mom smiled.
“Yeah! And it would be titled "The Kind Princess” Adelaide continued, pointing to the books near her, “By….Mama.”
“It would probably have my actual name on it.” Mom chuckled.
“Oh…” Adelaide looked up at Mom, a curious look in her eyes, “What is your name?”
“It’s Hildegard.” Mom smiled.
“Hild..gard.” Adelaide struggled, “That’s a long name.”
“It’s…only a letter longer than yours, silly bird.” Mom shrugged. She bent over and re-tucked Adelaide under her sheets, “Speaking of, it’s time for silly birds to get to sleep.” Adelaide squirmed around under the sheets until she found a comfortable position.
“Mama?” She looked up at Mom with another pleading look in her eyes.
“Yes dear?” Mom sighed.
“Can I give you a kiss?” Her question took Mom aback slightly.
“Of course you can.” Mom smiled. She leaned her face closer to Adelaide, who gave her the smallest, softest peck on the cheek, “Thank you sweetheart.”
“Mama?” Adelaide asked yet again, pleading look still in her eyes. Mom could only smile as she sighed.
“Yes dear??” She asked, putting a playfully annoyed tone in her voice.
“Can you…sing me to sleep?” Adelaide asked.
“My, my, aren’t you needy tonight.” Mom chuckled, though she found her heart melting as Adelaide gave her a small pout, “I’ll stay and hum for you, but you gotta promise to try and sleep, ok?”
“Ok.” Adelaide yawned, wiggling herself back into her previous comfortable position. Mom rested her head on the bed and started humming a soft lullaby, stroking Adelaide’s hair as she went on. Adelaide eventually closed her eyes, letting the sound of Mom’s voice wash over her as she drifted off to sleep.
Melancholy shadows danced through the dark room as Hildegard sat in her soft chair. She could feel a slight warmth from her laptop on her legs, despite the book it sat upon for support. The bright screen glaring up at her only added to the guest list of shadows waltzing away around her. She glared down with a fixed, somber expression, reading the headline over and over and over again. The glass in her hand trembled slightly as each word further imprinted itself into her mind. Parents of missing Amelia King give statement on four year anniversary of their daughter’s disappearance. Hildegard took a sip from her glass. Oh this should be interesting, she thought to herself. The pair stood behind a podium, microphones of all shapes and sizes crammed together onto an all too small space, and a look of pain and sorrow shared across both of their faces.
“We want to put this message out there, for anyone who’s possibly seen our daughter.” The mother started off, tears already running down her perfect face. Blonde haired, green eyed, and all done up in such well put together make-up. Nothing too stand out, though; can’t have that on such a somber occasion, “If you have seen our daughter or have any information at all, please contact us. We just want our little girl home. We want her to know how much we love her.”
“Hmph.” Hildegard scoffed, “If that were even remotely true, you wouldn’t even be in this situation, now would you?”
“We’ve worked with a sketch artist for the past few days.” The father continued, “We have a picture of what our Amelia should like at four years old.” He pulled out a paper from a folder on the podium. A scanned version popped up on the side of the broadcast, throwing a ghost of the child well into view. Hildegard scanned the artist’s prediction, a fierce look boring into every detail. The nose seemed fine enough, as were some of the more micro-details; the shape of her chin and ears seemed more or less as they should, but the macro-details were all so horribly wrong. Her hair was blonde, her eyes were blue, the shape of her face and her smile felt so terribly off.
“You’ve made her look far too much like her mother.” Hildegard scoffed, eyes glancing over to the dark haired, blue eyed father, “When in reality she’s taken far more after you, sir, but a blonde haired, blue eyed little girl makes quite pretty for television.” She knocked back more of her drink, “All the more fortunate for me, I suppose.” The pair were engaged in some questions from the reporters in the audience. Hildegard didn’t really pay them any specific attention, still fixated on the false child on the screen, until something the father said caught her attention.
“We notified the police the moment we knew something was wrong.” He said, in response to what, though, Hildegard hadn’t heard.
“Oh that’s a fine way to say neither of you noticed for a month.” She snorted, “You were just oh so eager to go on yet another business trip, as if you hadn’t just been gone for one a week prior.” Her eyes moved over to the mother, “And you, you’re no better. I almost didn’t even need to convince you to go on that month-long ‘retreat’ with those friends of yours, far too willing to leave your daughter behind to ‘focus on yourself’.” She could feel the venom rising within her words.
“Is there anything you’d like to say to the kidnapper?” A reporter asked. Hildegard felt a vein twitch in her temple.
“Yes, there is.” The father said, looking straight at the camera, “Sarah I know you have her. Please, I’m begging you, just bring her back to us. I know we had our misunderstanding, but if you bring her back to us safe and alive, I promise you, we will not press charges. Just please-”
“Liar!” Hildegard hissed, nearly jumping out of her seat. The book that rested on her lap tumbled to the floor with a quiet thud, and the sudden movement of the bright screen sent the shadows into a maniacal frenzy, “Liar, liar, liar!” She fell to her knees, nearly dropping the laptop onto a small table and spilling what remained of her drink. The rushing blood in her head drowned out whatever he had left to say. The venom building within her started to spill out.
“Misunderstanding??? Is that what you’re going to call it?!” Hildegard tried to keep her voice from rising but was only mildly successful, “That bitch nearly KILLED her, TWICE. And when the hospital called CPS, you tried to blame me! ME!” Her voice grew steadily higher and her breathing became more ragged, “When I was the one, who changed her, fed her, clothed her! I was the one who took her to her appointments, I was the one who washed her, I was the one who soothed her, rocked her; when I was the one who loved her!”
“I only ever did as you asked!” Her voice had started to go hysterical, “From the day you put her on MY desk, you told me: ‘keep her alive, make sure she doesn’t cry.’ And what thanks do I get? You backed HER up when she tried to blame the harm she had done on ME. You threatened to take her from me, to fire me and bar me from ever being near her again if I spoke out against you and your wife. I complied only because I was afraid the next time…the next time she wouldn’t be so lucky.” Tears started streaming down her own cheeks.
“But don’t you worry one bit, sir.” She sneered, “I will continue to do as you asked. I will keep her alive, I will keep her safe, and I will make sure she’s happy. Even if that means I have to keep her away from the two of YOU.”
“Mama!” Adelaide’s voice nearly sent Hildegard out of her skin. She quickly slammed the laptop shut, closing down the broadcast, and turned to her right, bringing her face to face with a very upset looking child.
“Adelaide!” Hildegard sighed, wiping the tears from her eyes, “What are you doing up so late?”
“I had a bad dream.” Adelaide sniffled, “And then I woke up and I heard you shouting and I was scared…”
“I’m sorry, baby bird.” Hildegard sighed, “Mama was being too loud.” She pulled Adelaide into her arms and stood up. Adelaide looked down and caught sight of the laptop.
“Were you watching a movie, Mama?” She asked, her voice a little heartbroken, “Without me?”
“Oh, no no no, silly girl.” Hildegard shook her head, “I was just watching some boring old adult news.”
“Then why are you crying?” Adelaide tilted her head.
“Oh…well. It was a sad story being told.” Hildegard sighed, “A mommy and daddy lost their little girl and they were talking about it. It made me think of you and I was sad at the thought of someone stealing you away from me.” Adelaide snuggled into her mom’s shoulder, little body trembling up a storm.
“What about you, baby bird?” Hildegard asked as she started to gently rock her daughter, “What was your bad dream about?”
“We were on a plane.” Adelaide sniffled, “And it started shaking really really bad, and it shook me and I was really scared and then the plane started to tear apart and Mister Fluff fell out of the plane, and then you fell out of the plane!” Her sniffled had turned into sobs, “And then the plane kept shaking and shaking and it really hurt and that’s when I heard a loud voice and I woke up.”
“Oh, my sweet girl,” Hildegard sighed, hugging Adelaide tight, “It’s alright, I promise. I’m right here.” She ran a hand through her daughter’s long hair and started rubbing her head in an attempt to soothe her. Slowly the sobs turned back into sniffles and she stopped trembling as much.
“I honestly…can’t believe you remember that…” Hildegard mused quietly. Adelaide looked up at her, eyes wide.
“Did the plane shake really bad?” She asked. Hildegard looked down at her in shock.
“Oh, not that bad.” She lied, “There was some turbulence, that’s what makes planes shake, but it was only a little bit, and the pilots were very skilled and got us through it nice and safe.”
“Oh. Then why can’t you believe I remember it?” Adelaide asked.
“Well, sweetie, you were just a tiny little baby when we flew over here.” Hildegard smiled, “And you slept the whole flight over, cuddled up with Mister Fluff.” She started to make her way back towards the hallway, Adelaide still in her arms.
“You know I bought him for you the day we left, right?” Hildegard continued. Adelaide shook her head, “It’s true. We were in the airport, getting ready to get on the plane, when I realized you didn’t have a single toy to hold onto in your little carseat. I stopped by one of the shops and started looking through their selection of stuffed animals; I was trying to find a bird or a cat for you.” She turned down towards where her and Adelaide’s rooms were located.
“That’s when your little baby hand grabbed Mister Fluff from a shelf near you.” Hildegard chuckled, “Try as I might, I couldn’t separate the two of you without you crying up a storm. You had already made your decision, and thankfully the nice lady working the register helped me get everything checked out while you clung on to him. You two have been pretty much inseparable since. Speaking of…” Hildegard started to open the door to Adelaide’s room, only to have the child start fussing in her arms.
“Nooo!” Adelaide cried.
“What? What’s wrong, Addy?” Hildegard looked down, concern filling her face..
“I wanna sleep with you…” Adelaide whined, her lower lip quivering. Her mother sighed.
“Well…you have been pretty good about sleeping on your own this week.” She nodded, “I guess it’ll be fine if you stay with me for one night.”
“Thank you…” Adelaide mumbled, resting her head on Hildegard’s shoulder.
“Shall we get Mister Fluff, at least?” Hildegard asked with a light chuckle. Adelaide could only nod her head. As the pair stepped into Adelaide’s room, the soft glow of her night light illuminated the floor, where a sad abandoned seal stared up at them with beady little eyes. Hildegard picked him up and handed him to Adelaide, who quickly embraced the seal in a firm hug. Cradling her carefully in one arm, Hildegard left the room and shut the door. She turned around and opened the door to her own room. It was much more bare than Adelaide’s one, sporting only an adult sized bed, a desk by its side and a large bookshelf at the end. Only about half of the shelves actually had books on them, the rest laid bare. Perched above Hildegard’s bed sat the room’s only window, in which the light of the full moon shone brightly in the night sky.
“How kind of the clouds to part for us.” Hildegard smiled, “Now the moon can be your night light.” She looked down and noticed Adelaide’s face still held some sorrow in it, “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”
“What would you do if…a bad person took me away?” Adelaide asked, her voice shaking.
“Oh, baby bird.” Hildegard sighed. She took a deep breath to steady herself before answering, “I would fight tooth and nail to make sure I got you back. But Adelaide, listen to me.” She sat down on the bed, making sure she could look Adelaide in the eyes, “No one is going to take you from me, ok?”
“Ok…” Adelaide nodded. Hildegard pressed her forehead against her daughter’s.
“Adelaide…I swear to you. As long as I am able to put my arms around you, I will always keep you safe.” She could feel her own voice start to shake, “No matter what. Now, let’s get to sleep.” A quick pull of the covers and some wiggling for adjustment saw the pair nice and snug in the safety of mom’s bed.
“G’night, Mama.” Adelaide yawned.
“Good night, Adelaide.” Hildegard chuckled, “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Adelaide nodded, “With all my heart.” Hildegard smiled at the phrase and kissed her daughter on her forehead. Adelaide quickly snuggled into her mother’s bosom, Mister Fluff still held firm between her arms. Hildegard started gently stroking Adelaide’s hair once more, humming her a soft lullaby until the two of them drifted off into a deep sleep. The moon continued to shine her soft light down upon the small house as the pair slept, keeping an ever watchful eye over them, as she had that night four years ago.