Little Monster

She had a knife in her right hand with a kitchen hand towel over her left shoulder. Laura wanted to look like she was cutting vegetables. Actually, she was cutting vegetables. Laura was getting the salad ready for dinner.

It was almost dinner time, and dinner was always a hard time for her when having to deal with her daughter Karina who was almost 11 years old and was beginning to rebel.

You see, Karina was starting to realize that she really had the upper hand in this relationship. Karina was starting to show that she was the boss and that was enough for Laura to be frightened. This made her nervous every day, but she could not show that to Karina.

Laura was walking around the house looking for Karina. Like a good mother, she wanted to ask Karina what she wanted with her salad, chicken or steak. The usual was steak, but Laura figured she take a chance this time because, in the end, Laura was just tired. She was tired of living in fear.

As she walked around, expecting to see the little monster right around any corner she took, she kept thinking on what went wrong. When Karina was younger, Laura had a grip on her, almost like they were one. Now, Karina is showing that she has plans of her own.

This bothered Laura greatly. She wanted everything to go back to the way it was before or for this situation to have never existed.

Laura was expecting to see the little monster any second. With the knife in her hand, Karina might feel threatened. Karina might actually see what Laura’s plans are, and that is why Laura put a kitchen hand towel over her left shoulder—to alleviate the situation in case Karina feels the threat.

Laura got to Karina’s room and her daughter was not in it. It was kind of a relief for Laura. It was time for her to regain herself and she did with a deep breath.

Laura looked out the bedroom window and saw Karina playing outside. Her daughter was playing with their pet cat, Shanks. Laura always despised Shanks’s name. It was not a cute name at all, Laura's thought always.

Shanks was dressed up with a pink dress with a big white bib as well. Karina was playing tea time with the cat. However, their conversation seemed very serious, as if the cat understood everything the little girl was saying. It seemed like the cat never bothered to run away when Karina was playing with it. Laura observed the cat and how it never disobeyed or tried to get away like the cat does with her or anyone else in the world.

Another deep breath calmed Laura down as she decided to call for Karina to come into the kitchen, so she can ask her if she wants chicken or steak. Laura was going to do it from the bedroom window, but she changed her mind. After all, the little monster might be able to detect what is happening.

Laura headed for the kitchen. She was walking through the rooms starting to draw a cold sweat. She kept thinking how her husband Alberto might have been of good use. Then again, he was not able to do anything when Karina got rid of him.

Laura got to the door that led to the backyard. She did not want to look out, but, instead, decided to call for Karina through the screen door. Laura put her back up against the wall on the right side of the entrance.

“Karina,” Laura called out, “darling.”

No response. Laura was a bit nervous. She kept thinking how Alberto died. It was horrifying.

“Karina,” she repeated

“Yes!” replied Karina. It sounded like she was right around the corner. For a second, Laura thought Karina was looking through the screen door.

“I need to ask you a question”

“Coming mother…”

This was it. Laura got the knife ready. The kitchen towel did not play a role at all. Well, in case she changed her mind, Karina will see that her mother is in kitchen-cooking mode, not the other mode.

The your-mother-is-about-to-murder-you mode!

Laura could hear the footsteps coming up. It sounded like Karina was running. Laura was imagining Karina’s dark black hair in the wind with her dirty jeans and her cute little red blouse.

One time, Laura swore she saw her daughter’s eyes glow in the dark. Then, those eyes really glowed fire-red when Alberto died, or when Alberto was murdered.

Tears came down Laura’s face.

Karina’s shadow approached the screen door. It stretched across the kitchen floor. It was like a silhouette of a demon making its way into a lovely home. In this case, the demon had infiltrated Laura’s home. It was incarnated as her own daughter.

Laura had the knife in her hand ready to strike, as the screen door was opening. Once Karina stepped into the view, Laure made her move.

It felt like she was in slow motion. The knife with Laura’s grip stopped right in front of Karina’s face.

Laura kept thinking of Alberto, her husband who was murdered by their own child. Alberto had tried to blown Karina up in the car once, but the bomb never went off. Another time, he tried to drop a heavy stone on Karina while sleeping. Guess what, it didn’t work.

All those times that Alberto tried to kill Karina failed, and Karina seemed to forgive him until she got to the age of nine. At nine years of age, Karina murdered her father, and Laura could not do anything about it.

Every time she asked for help, Karina made accidents happen for those that came to the rescue. So, Laura got tired of having innocent people dying. Laura decided to bite the bullet, and take out her own child. She gave birth to Karina, and, now, she was trying to kill her.

Karina looked up at her mother who was frozen. Laura was standing in front of her with a knife at her face. The death blow was impeded by some telekinetic power. Laura struggled as tears came down her cheeks.

“I’ve been wondering all afternoon…” said Karina as she stared at her mother who looked rather silly with her silly knife.

“At least Dad tried to surprise me with a bomb or in my sleep.”

Laura was completely frozen in her attack mode. She had decided to go underhanded with her right hand for the final blow.

Karina walked around Laura’s right arm that was extended, meant to go right into Karina’s face. Laura wanted to make it fast.

“Not even a gun worked,” added Karina, “remember what happened to Dad?”

Laura was crying and kept thinking, please just make it fast.

It was not even fast. Karina forced her mother, with her telekinesis power, to drive the knife into her own throat. It was painful and disturbing. Laura dropped backwards onto the kitchen floor. She fell heavy with her right hand still holding on to the knife that had plunged into her throat, cutting her esophagus in two. The knife missed the spinal cord in the back of the neck by a centimeter. The bones in the back of her neck were dislodged as the point of the knife gleamed through.

She was gurgling with her own blood. Karina stood over her smiling down at her.

“Sorry Mom,” she said, “I can’t forgive you like I did Dad so many times.”

Laura’s head tilted to the left and saw Shanks strolling up with its dress, purring and rubbing up against Karina’s legs. Shanks stared at dying Laura and the pool of blood dripping out of her neck.

“I guess new parents will be given to me,” said Karina as she walked away into the dark hallway.

Laura’s last thought was Shanks getting a treat by licking her blood right before she dozed into the other side. As for Shanks, he kept staring at the dark blood that was nearing his paws.

By Bazooka Teaches