Lydia

The fiery orange dusk sky illuminated over the city signaling for adult and child to head home for the night. A man in his late thirties walked lonely across the dried autumn leaves blowing across the chalky sidewalk. Every click of his boot walking the same path every second of every day from home to work to home again. His mind absent but his body following the steps like a replaying record. He stopped in front of a blue door to the same old, white house. Like always he reached for the doorknob, his house always being unlocked. The cold painful air whipped from his home, the same air that his beloved had once breathed, where his children had played, before that tragic day. He took a few moments and closed the door once again trying to get the past from his mind, to get the courage to walk into his home. 'A nice day for a walk, to clear my mind' he had thought to himself even if it was only for a few seconds. He had walked to his favorite bakery to pick up something sweet to indulge himself in. Once again, walking the same old path back to his home until standing dead in his tracks, his heart had almost dropped from hearing a squealing sob. He walked towards the park where he heard the sobbing and saw a little girl in the sandbox, in a torn, bright blue dress holding an old, dirty bunny that looked like it was once white. He hesitated to approach her, but gathered up the courage, walked over and knelt down. Even feeling his presence she did not look up at him.

So he asked: "What is wrong?"

A few minutes passed by before she replied with: "I've lost my mommy and daddy."

He sighed softly and closed his eyes. "Then let us find them."

She shook her head and wiped her eyes "No. The bad man has them! I'm scared of him!"

He opened his eyes and stared at her trying to think of what she meant "Bad man? Did someone hurt you?"

She was reluctant to say anything further as he stood up and reached his hand out to her. "It will get dark soon and be very cold. If you stay out here you will get sick. You can come to my place and I will look for your parents. It's better than being out here."

She looked up at him with her dulled, blurry, green eyes for the first time, debating on whether to go with the strange man or not. Not wanting to be alone she took his hand and he led the frail, weak little girl back to his home. Once inside the little girl looked displeased with how dull and lifeless his place was. "You must be hungry. I'll fix you something to eat... By the way. What is your name?"

The girl was exploring the living room only to find nothing of interest as she answered back. "I'm Lydia."

The aroma of the food just hitting the pan pulsated Lydia's senses. She was starving and it smelled so good she could melt. "I'm Samuel. It is nice to meet you Lydia."

When Lydia saw Samuel occupied she went exploring throughout the rest of the house. She turned on the hall light to see where she was going, there were six doors in the hallway and three of them had padlocks on them. What are in those rooms? Would it be too much to ask him? So she decided to explore the rooms that were open. The first room was the master bedroom, just as dull as the rest of the house. The second was a door to the master bathroom, and the third was a regular bathroom. She pouted with disappointment but still curious about the other three doors. She also noticed that there were no mirrors in the house. When she heard that the food was ready she ran back into the living room and up to the bar that separated the living room from the kitchen. She looked into the bowl and smiled seeing pieces of chicken covered in a high amount of vegetables. "Chicken stir-fry. It was my kids' favorite meal."

The little girl looked at the man when he explained what it was. "Kids? Are the doors that are locked your kids?"

The man sighed heavily and nodded "Yes. I do not have the money or the means to leave this house. So instead, I have locked up the memories."

She looked at him with no further questions and started to eat. He pulled his sofa out into a bed for the little girl to sleep on. "You can stay with me. Until I get you help."

Day after day passed by and the girl was happily roaming around the house as if it was hers. She watched her favorite television shows and played with the stuffed animals Samuel had bought her. She was content and so was he. When the weekends came and he was off of work they would go out together and play in the park, chase down ice cream trucks, and go to amusement parks just like a real father and daughter. When he had to work again the same routine weighed heavily on his mind, till he opened the door and saw her smiling face welcoming him home. He smiled right back at her and brought in either a present or something sweet. One late night before bed she asked him something he had almost forgotten. "Where are your kids?"

Samuel bit his lip in frustration from the question and looked down. "They are; They are in heaven. Gone from this world."

She whimpered slightly sad that he cannot see them any longer. "Is their mother gone too?"

He closed his eyes trying to control his emotions that he had made sure to set in place to try and go on day after day. "Yes. No more questions. Go to sleep." He leaned down and kissed her forehead before tucking her in and heading off to bed himself.

Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. Lydia was getting more comfortable, thinking of this home and Samuel as her own. When Samuel came home she started to greet him with the word 'dad'. He became used to it after a while, the pain seeming to mask itself with something new. He would lift himself up more and more thinking that he had to take care of her now, he had something to live for. As she got older, she became more demanding of her curiosity. "Dad! I want my own room! Why can't I have my own room, you have three of them you're not using!" He tried to ignore her and get her off the subject. He did not want to open those doors.

While Samuel was at work she would sneak into his bedroom and rummage through his things till she came upon a small key. With a gleam in her eyes, she ran to each room to try it out, one of them opened. The door creaked as if it had not been open in years. She reached up to turn the light on and a bright blue room shined. There was a tea party set in the middle of the floor on top of a pink table, a variety of stuffed animals on the small bed, and the bedding was laced and frilly. Lydia smiled and rushed over looking through all of the drawers finding crayons, school supplies, and fake makeup until she came upon a picture. It was her new dad with his family. A beautiful wife with three kids, a girl who looked like the eldest, a younger brother, and a baby. She turned the picture over to read the date and the names. September 11, 2001 'Samuel, Maria, Lydia, Michael, Gabriel.' She eyed over the names again stopping at 'Lydia'. "Why does she have my name?"

The door creaked when Samuel stepped into the doorway holding a phone. She started to tremble as he stared at her with cold, dead eyes. "Why don't you listen? I'm trying to help you. Why won't you let me help you."

Lydia shivered, confused and scared as tears started to roll down her eyes. "What is going on. Did you kill them? Did you kill your wife and children?! You're the bad man!"

He stepped forward as she ran past him pushing him to the side, he grabbed her arm to keep her from running. "Maria stop!"

She froze and hesitated for a moment at the name. "My name is Lydia!"

He pushed her into the bathroom and locked the door. "Open it. Open the medicine cabinet."

With tears still streaming down her cheeks she did as she was told and opened the medicine cabinet. There she found the only mirror in the house and what was staring back at her was not the little girl she thought she was, but a woman who looked much older than she was. Her hair had turned almost completely gray and her skin had wrinkled from the stress. Her eyes widened in disbelief "You... You're tricking me."

He bit his lip, finally letting his tears go. "Seventeen years ago, 9/11 happened. That picture was the last family picture we ever took. You sat on the couch watching the news constantly about it. Your brother was on one of those planes and something; Something in you snapped. You were convinced that something was out to get us all. It got so bad I had to take you to a psychiatrist. He gave you medication and you were doing so well. So I left you home alone with the kids. I shouldn't have, it was all my fault. I came home and there was nothing, no sound. I went looking for you and the kids and I found them. I found them lying lifeless in the tub filled with water, and you... You had just done it. I could still feel the warmth of the water. You were trying to hang yourself but I cut you down in time. You were trying to part from this world with them. But the guilt set in when you realized what you had done. Your mind broke reality and turned back time to when you were once innocent. But you weren't playing as yourself. You were playing our beloved daughter Lydia. Someone you consider the most innocent creature in this world. Maria! It's been seventeen years! This endless loop, you have to stop!"

She screamed and started to bang on the door as her reality started to sink in. Her eyes widened and constricted as darkness started to cover the world as she knew it. When he heard the banging stop, he opened the door seeing her body still, like a doll. Her eyes were lifeless as if her soul had passed on, and what was left was nothing but a shell with a mind of its own. She walked out of the room and started to walk out of the house, on a path she did not know, but her body did not stop moving. Samuel watched her walk out and put the phone he had been holding the whole time up to his ear. "Samuel. I am sorry. I wish I could help. But my hands are tied on this case. I have made an appointment for Friday. Please come see me then."

The fiery orange dusk sky illuminated over the city signaling for adult and child to head home for the night. A man in his late thirties walked lonely across the dried autumn leaves blowing across the chalky sidewalk. Every click of his boot walking the same path every second of every day from home to work to home again. His mind absent but his body following the steps like a replaying record. He stopped, his heart dropping when he heard a squealing sob. He followed the sob to a park and there he saw a little girl in a sandbox, in a torn, bright blue dress.