Thin

The 2nd-floor hallway of Lisha’s 3-story apartment complex penetrated her nostrils with the scent of cinnamon and apple. A deeper, satisfactory inhale revealed to her the tiniest hint of oat. For a moment, Lisha marveled at the comfort of it all. Though she stood amongst closed, uninviting doorways and silent, empty staircases, there was a tranquility she recognized within the hallway’s stillness. It was like a graveyard. Each door marked the entrance to a life she wasn’t privy to, yet she knew there was one behind it—or had been.

Lisha smiled to herself gently. Just then, she felt a series of anxious tugs against the leg of her black sweatpants.

“Mommy! Mommy! Is it Hal-low-ween?”

She looked down to find her daughter’s wide and wondrous eyes. She could see the depth of her anticipation clinging for an answer like the question that still hung in the air.

Lisha placed her gloved hand atop her daughter’s pink and sky-blue hat. It was the kind that had cute, fuzzy balls attached to the ends of it. The roped strings of its ensemble hung wistfully against its sides.

With that, Lisha responded, “No, Alice. Halloween was almost 2 months ago. Didn’t I tell you, kiddo? Life is about hits and misses. After you get a hit, you miss it.”

She crouched down on one knee until she was parallel to Alice’s height. With an exaggerated whisper and a coy smile, she added, “Until you get the next hit.”

Though Lisha had placed her hand gently against Alice’s head, Alice’s hat still buckled slightly from the weight. It slid down and covered Alice’s entire forehead, hovering just enough to partially cover the roof of her hazel eyes.

“No, fair,” Alice whined. “I won’t get to have more fun.”

Alice grabbed her hat in frustration and pulled it back into its proper position. Her eyebrows etched an angry arch as she crossed her arms together into stubborn indignation.

Lisha pushed up from her lowered knee and pulled her body back, away from her daughter’s. She had been prepared for such a response.

“Well, guess what,” she said slyly. “I’ve got a really big surprise for you. There’s this place I’ve wanted to show you that we can’t see from here. It’s closer to where your dad lives. Ahem. For you, I’ll make this our very own Nightmare Before Christmas. The best of both worlds.”

With these words, Alice disconnected from her rebellious posture. Lisha could read curiosity across her face. Confusion followed not too far behind it.

In recognition, Lisha let out a soft sigh and a gentle grin.

“One day you’ll get my references.”

Lisha turned her body around to face the few steps she still needed to climb. She lifted her foot to begin her advance when she suddenly stopped, then turned to face her daughter. In an exaggerated panic, she turned her head quickly to the left. Then again to the right. She drew her head back center, and again, faced her daughter.

“Shhh,” she whispered cautiously. “I think I just heard Slenderman, Ali. We’ve got one flight of stairs left until we reach our apartment. We should hurry. You ready?”

Alice gave out a quick, shrill scream and dashed up the remaining steps ahead of her mother to meet sanctuary. Lisha noticed how her short legs seemed to lag as she tried to match her speed with her agility.

This worked in Lisha’s favor. She made sure to trail strategically behind, keys in tow, and ready, as she prepared to open the apartment door to help escape from the imaginary threat.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The outlines that could be made out in the darkened living room revealed a sparsely furnished apartment. There were two very large and very comfy couches. A glass, circular dining table was placed diagonally across from where both the couches sat. Directly across from the table was the kitchen. Adjacent to the dining room set was the hallway that led to their rooms. On the right side was Alice’s room and on the left was Lisha’s. The bathroom stood at the end of the hallway.

Lisha noticed right away that she had forgotten to leave the lights of the Christmas tree on. It served as a night light for arrivals like these.

“Let me turn the lights on, Ali.”

She made sure to use her phone light to guide her to the light switch located on the wall opposite the kitchen.

“Are you hungry or did you get enough to eat?”

“I’m full mommy. I just want to play with my toys,” Alice replied.

“Well, babe. If you’re all full, we’ve got to get ready for bed. It’s getting late.”

“Oh, okay,” Alice responded sadly. “But can I please play for a few minutes?”

Alice gave Lisha a pitiable look.

“Sure. Take your toys in the bath with you and play there, okay?”

“Okay! I can get them now,” Alice said gleefully.

“That’s fine. Just give me your—”

Before Lisha could ask for Alice’s things, Alice headed straight to her room. She threw her coat, gloves, hat—everything she had on, onto her pink, plastic toddler chair. Lisha followed behind her, watching on with tenderness against the door’s wooden frame.

Alice hummed as she searched for the toys she wanted to take into the bath with her. Noting her daughter’s keen interest in her task, Lisha turned to go. Midway into her step, she was halted into alert by a random object that had caught her eye’s attention. At the speed of her glance, it seemed that the object rolled itself suddenly into view. In disbelief, Lisha turned back fully to get a better view of the object. Upon further examination, Lisha recognized the object as an empty prescription bottle.

“Aa-licee….?!” She called cautiously. “Where did you get this from, sweetie?”

Alice didn’t respond. In the time it took Lisha to pick up the empty medication bottle, Alice had already closed the door to the bathroom and drawn the water for her bath.

As she held the bottle in her hand, a look of confusion crossed Lisha's face. She distantly heard the noise of running water and the sound of Alice’s playing.

“……splash…..” sh-krrrr……..”ol—Mila……swim…..swim…….”

…………… ...........................................................................................................

Lisha walked with Alice, about 10 minutes away from her ex-husband’s home. They had all shared that home once, but the house became a point of contention throughout the divorce. For Lisha, the house was a place she couldn’t wait to leave behind. The memories there were too great. Too painful.

The only thing she had missed about the home was the pond that lay just a few inches away from where she and Alice walked. From her viewpoint, it looked as if it was frozen over. If it had been, she wanted to surprise her daughter with the discovery.

A few minutes passed before they reached the pond’s edge.

She looked down at her daughter warmly and said, “Mommy’s going to take a closer look to make sure it’s safe, so stay right here.”

“Okay,” Alice said, with a nod of approval.

With her naked eye, Lisha could see that the pond’s edge measured about 2 to 3 inches in thickness. She decided to test the pond’s solidity with her weight.

She stepped into the thick sheet carefully, making mental note of any looseness that indicated the pond’s level of safety. After just a quick minute on the ice, Lisha looked up from where she had been standing to announce her assessment.

What escaped her mouth instead—silence. A breath of fog exhaled from the pause of her lips.

Alice?

Alice wasn't where Lisha last left her. A quick survey revealed that Alice wasn’t there at all. The realization stumped Lisha into a stupor. It sent shockwaves into her body, preventing her movement. She could only stand there. Frozen. Too bewildered to speak.

Crr---Crr---Crr---

The slow and steady sound that pierced into the silence pushed Lisha to come to.

Crr---Crr—CRRRR----

That last sound was loud enough for Lisha to concentrate on its source. She looked about the pond in feverish concentration, focusing all her attention on the accuracy of her senses. With a combination of curiosity and anguish, her body propelled forward. She walked on. One step. Two.

When she reached the center of the pond, she finally met the source of the rippling disturbances. Unlike the rest of the pond, the spot she happened upon was made of thinner ice. It reminded Lisha of a mirror.

She peered down into it, slowly, and received back a perfect reflection of herself.

Crr---Crr—CRAAACCCKKKK—

The last cracking sound split the mirror-like ice into a battered divide. Behind one of the divides of ice was a very small, very petite hand. Just as quickly as the hand appeared, Alice’s face revealed itself behind the mirror-like site.

It…..it couldn’t be……….

“Alice?!!” Lisha screamed. “No. It can’t—no. Alice?!”

The tears streaking down Lisha’s face began to form its own body of water, salted as they were with her feelings of fear and sorrow.

She tried cracking the spot more by stomping it repeatedly, but the ice remained intact, stubbornly unmoved by her desperate attempts. As defeat began to settle into Lisha’s shoulders, needles prickled into her chest like the feeling of frostbite thawing from the heat of a cold-worn body.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The sound of pounding echoed throughout the area as if over a loudspeaker. The pounding of the thumping brought Lisha back into her living room setting.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“Police. Open up! If you don’t, we’ll have to force our way in.”

The request was met with silence.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“We’re going to count to ten. One…..two…..three……”

Lisha sat in the chair of her dining room set. Somewhere off in the distance, she could still hear running water, but she couldn’t place where it was coming from.

“Four…. five……”

Her expression was blank. Her eyes wore exhaustion. There was a brightness to them that was glossy in appearance.

“Six…. seven…. eight….”

One of Alice’s arms rested on her dining room table. Underneath the table was a place Alice played often.

“Nine…. ten.”

BOOM. CRASHH

Lisha’s apartment door flew open. The officers rushed into the scene where Lisha sat. The floor of the apartment was littered with trash and clothes. Flies circled the overflow of dishes that piled in the sink. The bathroom, which could be seen from their end of the hallway, overflowed from the running water.

Officer Perch approached Lisha.

“Ms. Colbert, you have to come with me.”

Lisha remained seated at her dining table, staring directionless into her apartment. Her arm still rested on the table.

“Come, on Ms. Colbert,” Officer Perch continued. “I need you to follow me.”

“Umm, Perch,” another Officer yelled from Alice’s bedroom. “I found her prescription bottle. It’s empty. I’m not sure if that’s a good sign or a bad one.”

From the hallway of the apartment complex, Lisha’s neighbors talked loud enough for the officers to overhear.

“I told you, Tim. I knew somethin’ wasn’t right with her. I saw her talking to herself on the 2nd floor. Of course, she couldn’t see me through the peephole.”

“It’s such a shame,” another neighbor said. “She hasn’t been the same since what happened to her daughter.”

Officer Perch continued speaking as if he didn’t hear what Lisha’s neighbors were saying.

“Right this way, Ms. Colbert. You remember me, don’t you? I worked your daughter’s case.” He paused before continuing. “I know it’s been a year since—since everything. Can I take you somewhere where you can get proper care?”

Lisha turned to face Officer Perch. With dark, distant eyes, and a slow gravelly voice she uttered, “My Alice. My dear, Alice. She’s in wonderland. I’m going to be late for her trip. Down she goes with the rabbit. But I have powers because I’m Eve. My son will be the Anti-Christ.”

“Officers,” Perch said. “She’s going to need some medical attention in here ASAP. She doesn’t seem to be in the right frame of mind. We’ll need to get her to an emergency room immediately.”