It was a sunny, normal day in Lexington, Kentucky. Little kids from down the street were riding their trikes, teens were hanging out at the park, our new next-door neighbors were arguing about what shade of beige to paint their house, and I Mary Sanentini was listening to my mom telling me to go have fun and play outside. I am resentful but I comply. Outside it is scalding hot, so hot that I feel if I stay outside any longer my skin might melt off. I walk around the side of our big three-story rental house that we rented a few weeks after my dad disappeared. My mom couldn’t bear to look at all of the stuff and relive all of the memories, so we moved, and to be honest I couldn’t live with it either. When I reach the old dingy building where we keep all of dad’s old tools and my bikes I picked the rusted deadbolt lock and open the doors. When I walk inside I am suddenly hit with a powerful wave of memories. Dad smiling at me and my mom while using his 50-year-old Stanley drill that grandpa gave him when he was a kid. Dad and I working hard building the treehouse in the old backyard. I finally realize how much I miss him. Instantly I crumple to the floor and start sobbing. It must’ve been only a few minutes but it felt like hours until I feel cold strong arms grab me. I scream and then a wet cloth was pressed against my nose. A sedative. I thought. I tried to fight it but sure enough, I started getting entangled in a haze of blackness. The last thing I remember was hearing my mom scream my name and a gunshot before the sedative overcame me.
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I awoke horrified forgetting about the terrors that occurred however long ago. I was encompassed in darkness. The only light coming from a small candle in the corner of the room. It was damp and smelled like moss in the place and I couldn’t pinpoint what the ground felt like. I crawled over to the candle where I was shocked to find a body. At first, I thought it was dead but as I looked closer I noticed that it’s chest I realized that it was heaving steadily. Please don’t be a killer. I thought as I tried to shake it awake. The person swatted at my hand for a few seconds then arose and looked me up and down. I’d recognize that face anywhere, even under the scrawny physique, ratty hair, and the crazed look in his eye from exhaustion. Both of our jaws were practically on the floor as I whispered. “ Dad.”In reply, he whispered. “Mary.”
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I awoke horrified forgetting about the terrors that occurred however long ago. I was encompassed in darkness. The only light coming from a small candle in the corner of the room. It was damp and smelled like moss in the place and I couldn’t pinpoint what the ground felt like. I crawled over to the candle where I was shocked to find a body. At first, I thought it was dead but as I looked closer I noticed that it’s chest I realized that it was heaving steadily. Please don’t be a killer. I thought as I tried to shake it awake. The person swatted at my hand for a few seconds then arose and looked me up and down. I’d recognize that face anywhere, even under the scrawny physique, ratty hair, and the crazed look in his eye from exhaustion. Both of our jaws were practically on the floor as I whispered. “ Dad.”In reply, he whispered. “Mary.”
