As soon as she woke up, Rachel knew something was wrong. When she opened her eyes, she should have seen the sun shining through her window; instead, she saw nothing. Her room was never this dark. Even in the middle of the night, her Hello Kitty nightlight kept the shadows away. Something was wrong.
Not only was it too dark, her bed was much too hard and cold. Rachel tried to reach for her teddy bear and found that her arm wouldn’t move. She could wiggle her hand, but her wrist was strapped down to the bed. Something was very wrong.
Today was not supposed to start this way. It was her fourth birthday after all. Mommy should have been there when she woke up. Mommy was always there when she woke up. Rachel started to feel angry. Why would Mommy do this? It wasn’t nice. Where was she? Rachel opened her mouth to shout, but stopped herself. Maybe Mommy hadn’t done this. Maybe if she screamed Mommy would come and save her. Or maybe whoever had put her here would come. Rachel started to feel less angry and more scared. A tear spilled down her cheek and splashed onto the cold stone.
Maybe this was just a dream. Sometimes Rachel had nightmares. She couldn’t always remember the dreams, but she knew they were scary. She also knew that when she woke up she could yell and Mommy would come and make her feel better. Rachel squeezed her eyes closed and tried to wake up. When she opened them, it was still dark. Since she couldn’t pinch herself, she bit her lip. She still didn’t wake up. Rachel wanted to cry out, but Mommy couldn’t come into her dreams. Rachel had to wake up first. She was getting more and more frightened. She bit her lip harder. A drop of blood spilled down her cheek and splashed onto the cold stone.
As her eyes adjusted, Rachel noticed that the darkness was not complete. She could see a faint light from an area near the floor. Rachel decided that was a door. If she screamed, Mommy would come through that door and take her home. But Rachel was too afraid to scream. What if Mommy didn’t come? The quiet sounds of a little girl’s sobs echoed through the room. It hurt Rachel to look at the door and not see it open.
In her four short years, Rachel had always been able to rely on Mommy. Mommy always made the pain, the tears, and the hurt go away. Mommy would come soon. Rachel tried to quiet herself and wait. She waited for what seemed to be hours. Finally, the door started to open. It made no sound, but the light immediately illuminated the room. It hurt Rachel’s eyes and she could only see the shadow in the doorway.
“Mommy?”