The Creek

The Creek

Victoria sat all alone on the park swing watching the other children laughing and playing.  Her best friend, Jenny, was making a sandcastle in a nearby sandbox.  Victoria’s lower lip trembled as she thought, Why won’t she talk to me? With tears in her eyes, she jerked to her feet and shoved the swing hard in frustration.  She never noticed Jenny glance up, brows knit in confusion, as the swing soared towards the sky.

--

Victoria walked along the cracked sidewalk leading towards the creek.  Blonde hair tented her eyes as she bowed her head and her small hands were thrust in her jean pockets.  She felt so alone and confused right now.  She kicked at a pebble in the path and struggled to remember. 

She and Ranger, her puppy, were playing ball when her mother called her in for dinner.  She made Victoria’s favorite meal that evening, hamburgers, macaroni and cheese and a bowl of ice cream for desert.  Afterwards, Victoria helped her mother clear the table while they chatted about the day.  When she went back outside Ranger wasn’t in the yard and didn’t come when she called for him.  Her father drove her around for what seemed like hours looking for Ranger but they couldn’t find him.  That night, her mother held her as she cried herself to sleep.

The next morning, Victoria decided to look for Ranger on her own.  She went from house to house asking the neighbors if they had seen her puppy but no one had.  She even ventured to the crumbled little shack in the woods behind old Mrs. Willard’s, where the older kids went to drink beer and smoke cigarettes.  Her father told her never to go back there, but this was an emergency.  Then, then…

“Oh, it’s no use!” she cried in frustration.  “I can’t remember!”

--

As she neared the creek the sun which was bright only a moment before began to dim. Shadows, cast by the tall trees lining the creek, closed in on her.  Although it was warm, Victoria shivered.  Something was nagging her.  For the first time, Victoria stopped and looked around.  She stood near a small outcropping of rocks surrounded by underbrush.  A memory was trying to surface but she just couldn’t seem to bring it forth. 

She felt apprehensive as fear overtook her.  She could hear her heart beating as it tried to burst through her chest.  Her breath quickened with growing anxiety.  Wanting to be away from the creek and the shadows that lined it, she hurried along the sidewalk until she burst into the bright spring day once more.  Hearing something behind her, Victoria screamed and spun around putting her arms out to ward off her attacker.  When she realized that no madman was behind her, she lowered her arms and looked around.  Finally, she spied what had startled her and, feeling a little silly, began to giggle.  A doe stood nearby nibbling grass at the edge of the tree line.  Surprised that the animal didn’t seem to notice her, she stopped to watch it and catch her breath as her fear dissipated. 

A few minutes later, the doe wandered deeper into the thicket and Victoria continued on.  As she made her way home, she wondered why she had become so afraid of the creek in the first place.  I just got the willies.  That’s all, she thought.  Like when mom asks me to go into the cellar to get something out of the freezer for dinner.

--

Victoria rounded the corner onto her street and her family’s little Cape Cod came into view.  Shrubs bordered the small yard and roses of every hue climbed the trellis at the side of the house.  The old swing where she liked to read swayed in the breeze on one side of the porch while her mother’s wicker furniture graced the other.  She could picture the dog house with “Ranger” stenciled above its door waiting in the back yard.  She tried not to think of him as she climbed the stairs leading to the front door.

“Mom,” she called as she went in, “I’m home.”  She could hear banging and muttering in the kitchen.  When her mother didn’t greet her, she decided that she hadn’t been heard and continued up the stairs to her room.  Victoria loved her room.  It had white walls and was decorated in pastels that always made her feel like it was spring no matter what season it was.  Her small bed was covered with a patchwork quilt her grandmother made while she was still a baby and a stuffed rabbit was propped against her pillow.  The thing she loved most about the room was a window seat that looked out over the back yard.  She would sit there for hours reading or just gazing out into the trees and watching her puppy play on the back lawn.  Thinking of Ranger made Victoria sad again.  She picked up the rabbit and, toying with the pink bow around its neck, sat Indian style in the center of the bed.

Feeling sorry for herself and trying not to cry again, she thought she heard a dog barking near by.  Victoria gave a small gasp as her eyes shot towards the window.  No!  It couldn’t be, she thought as she heard the bark again.  Tossing the rabbit aside, Victoria ran to the window and began laughing with excitement.  Ranger was running around his little dog house barking as if he was trying to get her attention.  “Ranger, you’re back!  You’re back!” she cried and ran out of the room and down the stairs as fast as she could, slamming the front door behind her.

--

“Honey, is that you?” Victoria’s mother asked as she walked into the front entrance but no one was there.  “Frank?” 

Funny, she thought, I could’ve sworn I heard a door.

She glanced up at the top of the stairs and noticed the door to her daughter’s room was open.  She dabbed her eyes with the tea towel she was holding and, sighing as if her heart would break, she ascended to the second floor.

She peeked into her daughter’s room, which was as neat as Victoria left it every morning, and smiled as she thought of her little girl.  But then she saw the small depression in the center of the bed and the rabbit lying beside it; her smile faltered.  She inched towards the bed and reached out to gently caress the spot.  Tears trailed unhindered down her cheeks as she resumed the weeping that had plagued her ever since the body of her little girl and her puppy were found by the side of the creek a week ago.

In the distance, almost like a whisper, Victoria’s mother could hear a little girl’s giggling and the excited yapping of a small puppy as they played.  And she smiled.