July 1, 2020
Tears rolled down Sarah's cheek as she drove down the pathway that would take her from her house to the highway that led to Matthewsville. It was a thin little dirt road that was only wide enough for one car at a time and was surrounded by trees on both sides. To her right was a small little hill, with a mountain towering over it from behind. To her left was a decently sized dip in the road with a little stream flowing through.
Beside Sarah was Lillian, who was playing with her stuffed sheep, Reggy, and wooden sheep, who she was now calling Sir Billy. Sarah was grateful to have given birth to such a pure and innocent child. Her husband and son both hated her but her daughter loved her with all the heart she could give. She didn't feel she deserved such love, though. Deep down, she felt that she deserved Edward and Isaac's hate. God was displeased with her and had to punish her for it. She only wished that her punishment could end. It had been going on for eight years - eight long years.
She sniffled and wiped the tear from her cheek. Sometimes, she wanted to give up. Sarah only wished that things could go back to the way they were before Ethan. Her son would love her and her conscience would be clear. Edward on the other hand would always be a miserable bastard. His alcoholism may never has existed if she didn't partake in the affair, but Sarah knew that he would still be the same miserable man he always was, only skinnier and more active. He may have wanted her at one point, but after Isaac was born, his mood only worsened.
Looking down at Lillian, Sarah could feel some joy. She may have been the only thing left in the world that kept her from giving up - from walking out into the forest to never be seen again. Sarah shook her head, trying to focus her attention to the road. It was always dark, even on the brightest of days. If Summer couldn't illuminate this road, she dreaded to know what Winter would bring.
"Mommy," Sarah heard in her right ear. She turned to see Lillian staring at her with her adorable smile.
"Yes, sweety?"
"Do you think aunt Mabel would want to have a tea party when we get back?"
Sarah smiled at her. "Oh I think she would love that, sweetie."
"Reggy wants a tea party too but Sir Billy says he wants brown juice instead..."70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhLFM3x6qhJ
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"Brown juice?" Sarah chuckled.
Lillian giggled. "Yeah, I said, 'We don't have brown juice Sir Billy. We have red juice, blue juice and pink juice.' He just kept saying he wanted brown juice but I told him we're having tea, not juice."
"Tea can be like brown juice, have you told him that?"
"Yeah!" Lillian said with her eyes looking down at the wooden sheep. "I told him that tea tastes good and is brown juice. And then he said..." She continued to talk while Sarah nodded her head and smiled at her. She looked down at the wooden sheep and noticed its little black bead eyes. They were staring back at her, deep into her own eyes. Their gaze hypnotized her, filled her with dread.
"...Mommy!" Lillian screamed.
Sarah turned her gaze back to the road and swerved herself from driving into the divot. Her heart pounded against her chest and she could feel the little hairs on her arm stick up. Lillian was leaning forward with her mouth wide open.
"Are you okay, sweetie?" Sarah asked.
Lillian nodded her head and picked up her stuffed sheep, who was dirty from falling on the floor. "Reggy is all dirty, mommy!"
Her breathing calmed down and the shaking in her hands died down. "I'm sorry, honey. We can clean it when we get to the daycare, okay?"
Nodding her head once more, Lillian resumed playing with her sheep and making up voices for them. Sarah looked at the wooden sheep once more. It looked like it was smiling at her.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They pulled up to the daycare - Lillian throwing her sheep into her little backpack and running up to the doors of the daycare. Sarah quickly followed after, holding a duffel-bag full of coloring books, word puzzles, and children's books.
"Jesse!" Lillian yelled happily. She ran up to a woman who had gray hair and bright red sweater on.
"Lily!" The woman, equally as happy, yelled back. Lillian ran up to her arms and wrapped her tiny arms around the woman. "How was your birthday last night, young girl?"
"It was so fun! My family and friends were there and I had a huge cake and got lots of presents!"
"That's awesome! Why don't you go unpack your backpack and go inside with the other kids while I get some snacks ready?" Jesse smiled.
Lillian nodded her head and quickly ran inside. Jesse worked at the daycare along with Sarah. In total, there were five people working at the daycare. Jesse was one of the teachers, along with a man named Ross. Sarah and a woman named Cindy were in charge of fun activities for the children. Finally, Katy was the boss and didn't really interact with the children all too often.
"How was your night, darling?" Jesse asked, her voice now much quieter.
Sarah rolled her eyes and smiled. "It was a fiasco. Lillian and her friends were running all around the house, my sister was mostly drunk before it started..." Sarah and Jesse laughed.
"And your husband?" Jesse softly asked.
"He was... fine." Sarah said.
Jesse put a cigarette in her mouth and started reaching for her lighter. "I'm sorry, Sarah. I didn't mean anything by it."
Both woman lit up a cigarette and breathed out smoke at the same time. Sarah faintly smiled at Jesse. "It's alright, I know you didn't. It's just hard talking about him. He never talks to me and, when he does, he's always short and bitter. I..." She looked at Jesse who was intently listening. She was the only person that she felt she could connect with at the daycare. Maybe it was because she was older - maybe it was because she reminded her of her mom. "I shouldn't talk bad about my husband. It's not right. I'm sorry"
The old woman threw her cigarette on the sidewalk and coughed into her arm. "You don't need to be sorry to be, darling. My first husband was a bastard too. The sex was good but he was a bastard." Both women laughed. "Shall we head inside then?"
Sarah nodded her head. She turned her head over to the other side of the street, noticing a man staring at her. Nothing was visible on the man except for a large jacket that he wore along with a hood. His head was cocked to the right and he remained motionless. Jesse grabbed her by the shoulder. "Come on," She said gently.
They both walked inside, staying quiet. Inside, they could hear the sounds of kids yelling and Ross trying to grab their attention. "Who was that?" Sarah asked.
Behind the two women, a man entered with his six year old son. It was Aaron and his son Quinton. "We'll talk about this later," Jesse whispered. The old woman walked away, clapping her hands very loudly at the screaming kids.
Sarah smiled at Aaron and Quinton. "Quinton, it's so nice to see you again! How was visiting your mom?" Sarah asked.
Quinton sucked on a small Popsicle. "Good." He continued sucking on his Popsicle, his mouth turning red.
"Quinton, don't be rude. Tell Mrs. Porter how your trip was," Aaron said.
Quinton, visibly annoyed, pulled the Popsicle out of his mouth. "Me and my mommy went to the Space Needle," He said.
"Wow, that's awesome!" The little kid continued to suck on his Popsicle, not intending to say anything else. "Why don't you go finish your Popsicle and unpack your backpack. We can talk more about your trip later."
Quinton hugged his dad and walked into the large room with the rest of the children. Sarah stared into Aaron's eyes. They were a bright blue, much like Sarah's. His face was very handsome, a direct contrast to Edward's.
"Hey thanks again for coming last night and, uh, sorry for all that family drama," Sarah said, awkwardly laughing.
Aaron smiled at her. "You're very welcome, I was glad I could come. Your daughter is a very pretty young lady and I'm one hundred percent believe she'll one day be as beautiful as her mother."
Sarah blushed. Aaron was divorced from his wife, thus, their child, Quinton, rotated between the both of them. In a way, Aaron reminded her of Edward when they first met. Although, Aaron was much more attractive than Edward ever was and he still was looking great.
They stared at each other, both smiling at each other - both not talking. "Well, I suppose I should get going before I'm late to work," Aaron said, breaking the momentary silence.
"Okay, we'll see you at five," Sarah said.
As Aaron left, Sarah stood still, admiring him. She watched as he drove away in his car and, as her gaze followed, she saw another figure staring through the window. It was the man from earlier - the man who wore a hood. Sarah felt a cold shiver run along her back. She could feel his gaze piercing through her.
She felt a hand grab her shoulder, startling her. Sarah turned around to see Ross standing behind her. "Is everything okay?" He asked her.
Sarah turned back to the doors, seeing nothing.
"Yeah," She said. "Everything is fine."
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