Water Trails

The wind whispers to itself, playing along the old boards of a lone farmhouse, seeking a gap to creep inside. Moonlight falls in muted beams, casting shadows long across the bikes and toys scattered through the yard. Reaching further, it moves into the fields of corn, long ears bowed and sorrowful. Finally, it pierces through the clouds to cover a solitary cross embedded in the dirt beneath a tree-swing, the white gleam chasing away the dark. Swaying in the breeze, the swing lies still, while the branches above stretch and scrape the milky sky.

Inside the house, the master bedroom door creaks open, but no little hand is there to push it. Sound asleep, Cassie and Jacob don’t hear little footsteps shuffling to the foot of the bed. Nor are they roused by the quick, shallow breaths of little lungs, desperately trying to fill the void inside.

Silently watching, little eyes take in the two adults- free from the cares of a cruel world for a few blessed hours. Time ticks away, a soundless countdown that never ceases.

All is quiet, and all is calm.

Out of nowhere, a sound like thunder cracks the silence, and Jacob’s eyes fly open, scanning the darkness as his hands fumble for his phone.

“What in the…”

Cassie scrambles close. “Jakie, what was that?!” she shrieks.

The phone throws the room into a half-light, and the couple peer blearily at the shapes that slowly form around them. Malformed shadows throw themselves around the room as the flashlight from Jacob’s phone attempts to pierce the dark.

“It was right here! Jakie- it sounded like something fell…”

Cassie’s voice tails off as she catches the implications of her words. Shuddering, her feet draw up as close as they can to the rest of her body, and her arm latches to his like a vice.

They inhale air in hushed but heavy breaths, as if staying quiet will keep them safe. Neither moves for the main switch on the wall. Adjusting to the dark, two pairs of adult eyes unwillingly scan the room, simultaneously wanting and not wanting to see.

The dresser, the closet, and the desk all look normal- standing silent and unmoving. But the sound had been so deafening that it must have come from inside. Jacob’s eyes scan the closed curtains, the slightly ajar door, then fall to the foot of the bed.

“Cassie…look”.

A trail of water snakes its way across the floor, consuming the carpet beneath.

Mumma said that everybody goes to Heaven one day, but I don’t want to go yet. Is Heaven really in the clouds? I can’t see it from down here under the swing. The sun is nearly up, and I don’t think they’ll let me stay much longer.

I got to come back and spend one more day on the farm. That was nice. They can’t see me though- or touch me. I tried to hug Mumma and she walked right through me. I can touch things, but I don’t wanna scare them. I think I’d be scared too if I saw things moving in the air by themselves. So I just watched them.

Daddy sat by himself on the porch, rocking in the chair even though it wasn’t night-time. He didn’t light his pipe either. Just stared out at the corn. Mumma spent all day in the garden, pulling out weeds. I don’t see why she did that- it’s not planting season yet. They didn’t say much either, even at dinner.

I tried to go see them tonight, to watch em sleep. Daddy used to say that we’d see each other in our dreams. Has he seen me since?

I curled up on the foot of the bed like I used to when I was really little. They would always pretend to shove me off with their feet, and I’d giggle and fall with a thump, and climb back on and tickle their socks til they let me on again.

Mumma stirred once and I got scared. I backed into the dresser and that’s when I knocked Daddy’s water bottle off. I slipped through the door and ran for the stairs, taking them two at a time even though I’m not supposed to. I don’t know why I grabbed the bottle, but here it is, still in my hand.

I didn’t mean to frighten them. I called out all day but they can’t hear me. I I have to go now- I can feel it inside. All I want is for them to know I’m still here.

“Cassie, I can’t find my water bottle anywhere. Did you take it?” Jacob’s voice rings sharp and clipped.

“You always put it on the dresser before bed- I haven’t touched it” comes the reply, tinged with annoyance. Cassie didn’t sleep well either. “Maybe that’s what fell over, and it rolled under the bed”.

Peeling open the curtains, Cassie raises an arm to shield herself from the earliest of the sun’s rays, peeking over the horizon and dispelling the lingering cloud. Her gaze sweeps from the field to the yard to the tree-swing and the little white cross that rests below it. A lump rises in her throat, like always. About to tear herself away from the window, her eyes catch on something in the dirt, and she feels her heart jump.

“Jakie...look!”

Jacob scrambles to his wife’s side, startled by the urgency in her voice.

Jacob’s water bottle is propped against the tree. He simply stares, until he sees what she does. Then his arm reaches out and hugs Cassie to him, his shaken breath mingled with her sobs. Jacob feels the relief as her shoulders finally release, and he places his head beside hers.

Far beneath the couple, splattered through the dirt, lies another trail of water. Only this one is purposeful, and the messy shape betrays a once-familiar hand. An imperfect heart, sketched so that one half envelops the other. She would always say that it was Mumma keeping her safe.

Above the little cross, the tree-swing gently rocks.