Unfinished short story--need help

Only a few stars twinkled in the midnight skies.  The town of Harbour lay sleeping, unaware of what approached.  The water caressed the weathered wood of the dock before receding into the murky depths of the lake.  Under the shadow of darkness, the lake deposited its treasure, a silver lock box along the beach.  The box wasn’t the only thing that had come to town.  Something had been searching and now had found its home in Harbour. 

The fog came rolling in over the water of the sleeping town.  It surrounded the homes, floating quietly past doors and crept up through the open windows.  The house at the end of Maple Lane sat back from the road further than the rest.  Its neglected yard was scattered with long forgotten trash.  The remaining flowers rested their heads and the willow trees wrapped their long branches around themselves to ward off the approaching fog. 

The fog continued its search through the town, creeping down the alleys and around corners until it reached Maple Lane.  It proceeded down the street until it reached the house at the end.  It gathered upon itself, shimmering and shaking as it stopped beside the home.  The fog crept through the open window, moving the curtains and causing a slight breeze as it approached the sleeping figure.  It took notice of the name plate above the bed, “Lucy” before the icy fingers reached out to caress the girl’s cheek while she lay sleeping.

The girl looked peaceful.  Her chest rose and fell in the easy cadence of those in deep slumber, oblivious to the danger surrounding her.  As the fog watched the girl, she began to quietly mumble and for a moment, it appeared that the girl would open her eyes.  As the fog bent over her sleeping form, the girl’s snores caused little sections of the fog to dissipate and then reappear.  With a kiss on her forehead and a slight caress of her silken blonde hair the fog slowly retreated to the shadows.  It would wait and watch until morning, like it had been doing every night for several months. 

____________________ 2____________________

The morning sun streamed through Lucy’s open window, its beams creating light patterns across the girl’s face.  Lucy woke to her mom’s voice coming up the stairs, “Lucy, come on, you’ll be late and I’m not driving you to school.” 

She sighed and tightly squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to hang on to the quickly fading dream.  The last remnant of images continued seeping away from her and when she did open her eyes again only one image remained.  It was an image of a woman, with blonde silken hair and chestnut eyes like her own.  In her dream, Lucy wanted to reach out and touch the woman, but she was always surrounded by mist.  She didn’t know why she had this dream night after night, but she knew it was important.  She was ready to roll back over and stay under the covers, but glancing the day upon the calendar, Wednesday, she bounded from her bed.  After dressing quickly, she grabbed her book bag and took to the stairs, jumping down the final three.  This was going to be a great day.

         “Lucy, get in here!”
         I shouldn’t have jumped, she thought, I could’ve gotten out of here, “yes, mom?”
         “What’d I tell you ‘bout makin’ all that noise, you know I have migraines, don’t you know how to be quiet?!”
         “I’m sorry mo…”
         “What are you wearing and your hair’s a mess, hurry up and bring me the brush.”

Lucy trudged up the stairs, her chin hanging, and her mom’s disapproval weighing heavily upon her head.  Before retrieving the brush from the linen closet, Lucy stopped and peered at her reflection in the bathroom mirror.  Her summer tan had begun to fade.  Once her tan was gone she would again see the pale faced girl with yellow hair and thin smile peering back at her from the depths of the mirror. 
“Lucy, if I have to come up there…”

Lucy, lost in the moment, had forgotten her mission.  After blinking several times, she flashed a quick smile to the girl in the mirror and then raced back down the stairs to stand in front of her mom. 
         “Sorry mom, it took me a minute to find it. 
         “Bring that head over here and stop yappin’.”  Her mom scraped the brush through Lucy’s hair as if trying to exorcise some demon from within her, “I don’t know why I bothered,” she mumbled to herself.  Pushing Lucy’s head away, she turned the television back on and proceeded to light up another cigarette, tuning Lucy’s, “have a good day mom” out.

Lucy retrieved her book bag from the front door, where she had flung it earlier in her haste to get the brush.  She exited as quietly as she could, making sure not to slam the door.

____________________ 3 ____________________

Lucy’s mom, Sue, spent a majority of her day on the couch.  Since the previous summer, she had lost several jobs.  They had been evicted twice and today she had received the results from her state mandated psychological testing.  A month earlier, Sue had applied for state aid, but before the government would give her any, she was required to pass parenting classes and the health exam.  According to the letter, she had failed and the appropriate authorities were going to be informed.  She was diagnosed as schizophrenic.  Sue contemplated what this meant for her.  If Lucy was taken, they would certainly find out her true parentage. 

Sue glanced at the clock and when she was able to focus, she realized it was only noon, three hours until Lucy got home.  With a moan she extracted herself from the cushions and shuffled with her coffee cup into the kitchen.  She kicked the cat aside, a birthday present to Lucy, as she went down the hallway, “what a stinkin’… ugh, that kid’s so messy, after all I’ve done for her.”  A few more agonizing steps and Lucy’s mom reached the kitchen.  Opening the refrigerator, her nose was assaulted with the smell of rotting meat, some forgotten leftover in the back.  She grabbed the vodka from the shelf and slammed the door shut.  Not bothering with a glass, she took her migraine medicine with the remaining liquor.  Then tossing the bottle into the sink, she returned to the couch.  As she lay back against the woolen couch cushion, it scratched her shoulder.  Sue read the result letter again then dropped it to the floor in disgust.  If she had only left that brat where she found her, none of this would be happening.  She thought back to that time seven years ago, when her life changed. 

Sue had a restless soul.  After fifteen years in a lonely, abusive marriage, she wanted out.  She was taking a variety of anti-depressants just to keep going every day.  Her husband Leroy was a hard man.  He worked hard, he drank hard and he hit hard.  Sue was advised to leave Leroy, but with her family dead, and no friends, all she had was her husband.  She spent her days plotting a way to relieve her pain and nights trying to dodge his fists.  Broken arms, black eyes and bald spots on her head didn’t seem to bother her.  The drugs were certainly doing their thing.  The day she received the call from the clinic, confirming her miscarriage, was her wake up call.  No more would Leroy ruin her life.  He had taken the one thing away from her, she so desperately wanted.  It was time for him to go.  Months later she was free woman, Leroy had vanished suddenly in the middle of the night.

Sue found a job at a local childcare center.  She loved working with babies; they smelled of milk, powder and baby oatmeal.  One baby in the childcare center, with her silken blonde hair, chestnut eyes, and pixie lips was her favorite.  The baby’s mother, Destiny, spent most of her time working or attending school, so it took Sue several months to build up a friendship.  The moment came when during Destiny’s final semester her online classes had been cut.  She needed childcare to attend school, but she didn’t know what to do.  She needed her job and she couldn’t quit school.  Sue had the answer and a few nights later, she was babysitting Destiny’s little girl.

Sue woke with a start, beads of sweat upon her upper lip and the cat purring under the couch.  Her medicine had not completely worn off and as she tried to lean over the edge to swat the cat away, she fell to the floor in a crumbled heap.  She was too tired to crawl back onto the soft cushions.  She reached up, snagged a couch pillow and fell back to sleep amid the trash on the floor. 
         
After Destiny’s graduation, Sue remained on as a fulltime babysitter.  It was a convenient situation for Destiny and she never thought Sue would harm the little girl.  Watching her grow up, Sue often wondered what it would be like to be a mom.  When the little girl turned two, she began calling Sue, “mom” and when they ran errands Sue began telling bystanders that she was her daughter.  Sue cursed the departed Leroy for robbing her of a child of her own.  If he could only see her now with her child.  Sue met Tom on the little girl’s 3rd birthday.  Upon meeting him, Sue could feel her time slipping away.  Tom owned his own business and was the father to a 16 year old.  Taking Sue aside he mentioned that in a few months Destiny would be his wife and his daughter would care for the little girl.  Fighting back the tears, Sue congratulated the couple and raced home.  She gathered the few possessions she owned, strapped the toddler car seat into her car and waited for the moment to arrive when she would see the little girl, her girl, again.

The next morning was bright and clear when Sue arrived at Destiny’s house.  The party balloons lay flat and withered upon the lawn, the remnants of the piñata dangled from the oak tree and pieces of cake were being carted off by the local ants.  Destiny met Sue at the door.  A look of excitement flickered across her face before being replaced with sorrow.  Sue knew she was being discarded; she was once again not needed, not wanted and unloved.  Her ex-husband had used her and now Destiny had done the same.  As Destiny entered her bathroom to ready for work, Sue knew it was to be her last day.

It took only a second for Sue to decide.  As she heard the shower begin, she grabbed the steak knife from the butcher block in the kitchen and quietly opened the bathroom door. 

She was a heavy thing for someone so young.  Her dead weight caused Sue to struggle as she placed her in the trunk of the vehicle.  She didn’t remember her husband weighing as much, but that was years earlier and she was younger.  He didn’t fit as easily in the trunk as Destiny did, and he didn’t use as many trash bags, he certainly did bleed, but Sue didn’t have time to worry about that.  It was time to move on as she slammed the trunk of the car.   

Sue wasted no time once back inside.  With a trash bag in hand, she gathered the few toddler toys scattered around the front room, rushed into the girl’s bedroom gathering clothes to stuff into the bag, then hurried to the car.  Throwing the bag onto the back seat she returned to the house to scoop the sleeping toddler from her bed and deposit her into the car seat. 

Sue woke to Lucy shaking her and the cat licking her arm, “what in the world?”
         “Mom, mom you were sleep a long time, I was worried.”
         “What time is it?”
         “8 o’clock.”
         “Did you get the milk?”
         “Um…no, I didn’t know we needed any.”
         “Run to the store and get some, I’m going to bed”

Sue grabbed her smokes, kicked the cat again and proceeded up the stairs to her room.  She shook her head as she climbed, they say you reap what you sow, she didn’t believe it until now.  “Why was I thinkin’ of that after all these years…must have been that letter.”  Sue sighed as she lay upon her bed.  A good night sleep was all she needed to put this behind her.

____________________ 4____________________

Night after night the fog had crept through Lucy’s window.  Watching over her from the shadows, waiting for the right time when it would be put to rest.  It had taken some time for the fog to locate Lucy.  It had searched town after town looking for the lockbox.  The box held the answer to Lucy’s true identity.  The fog shook slightly; a faint ripple ran through it from the excitement.  It knew the time was close for Lucy to be taken.  It had been waiting for this moment for seven year. 

____________________ 5____________________

Sue awoke to the morning sun beating through her window.  “Blasted…” She reached for her cigarettes.  The ashtray beside her was filled to capacity.  Several cigarettes had fallen on the floor, the live ash burning little holes in the carpet. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand.  Where was that girl?  Her ashtray needed to be emptied.  Flipping on the television, she scrolled through the menu. 

____________________ 6____________________

It was a Saturday when the box was discovered.  Little Davey Binner was casting for fish when something caught his eye on the edge of the beach.  Hoisting his pole upon his shoulder, he ventured off toward the object.  When he reached the box, he sat down so he could examine it.  There was nothing spectacular about the box, it was silver with brass corners and a few rust spots were eating away at the top and bottom.  When he flipped the box to its side, he noticed the initials D.C. carved into it.  Davey ran his finger over the initials several times feeling the way the grooves were cut into the metal.  He gave the box a quick shake and although it was muffled, he knew it contained something.  He scrambled to his feet, searching the nearby ground for a rock to break it open.  He found a small stone and tried to jam it into the opening in the side.  Frustrated when this failed, he threw the box upon the ground.  A few kicks to the side and still it would not open.  Giving up, Davey gathered his fishing pole.  He tucked the lock box under his arm, and headed for home, confident he could find something in his father tools that would open the box.  When he arrived home, he was greeted by his mother who relieved him of his findings.  She sent him to finish his homework.  Placing the items in the garage, the box lay forgotten for several weeks.
____________________ 7____________________

(Still working on this part--need help to wrap things up)


____________________8 - 9____________________

At three o’clock, Lucy arrived home to find the cat trapped in the kitchen door and the sweet aroma of carbon dioxide permeating the house.  Upon opening the door, she found the woman she called mom for over seven years dead in her car; it had run out of gas.  On the front window, scrawled in red lipstick were the words, “my destiny.”


____________________ Epilogue____________________

“Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You,  Happy Birthday dear, Lucy,
Happy Birthday to You.” 

Lucy looked around the large picnic table set up in her backyard, Tom, Davey, Crystal and her friends from town were waiting with excitement for her to blow out her candles.  The red and white streamers hung from the trees and across the back porch as the radio played quietly in the background.  Lucy closed her eyes, took a deep breath and blew; eleven candles flickered out upon her cake. 
         “Are we going to visit mom today?”
         “Yes, this afternoon.”

The graveyard was empty when Lucy and her family arrived.  Climbing the little knoll, Lucy carrying red roses in her hand, knelt beside the newly planted tombstone.  Destiny Cummings, mother to Lucy, sister to Crystal, Finally at Peace was engraved upon the front.  Resting her hand upon the angel carrying a lock box statue, she whispered, “Thanks mom.”