Faded Baby Girl

I look outside my frosted window on a chilly December day wondering if there will be a snowstorm today. Inside my cozy house I walk through the silver painted walls and hear my feet creak the wood floor below me. The lights went out a couple hours ago and the only light I see is the rippling streaks of orange and red coming from my crackling fireplace. My black cat, Baby, stares at me with her round green eyes from the windowsill as if confirming my suspicions of a blizzard. 

“Guess we’re having sandwiches tonight Baby.”

She just meows in acceptance while I head to the kitchen. The kitchen is a worn-out mint green with a cranky stove that rarely works. I see the white faded fridge and open it only to see a lettuce head withering away, a small amount of turkey meat left, and an empty ranch bottle that’s perfect for making sandwiches. A sandwich without ranch is not a sandwich at all. I stare outside again and notice the heavy snow falling to the ground. I grunt at Baby and decide to get my keys dressed in sweats and a navy hoodie along with my brown UGGS trudging towards the front door to my truck.

“Farewell Baby. Keep the house safe while I’m gone and if I don’t come back call the police.” 

But when I looked at her, she was already asleep on the couch purring to the soft warmth of the fire. My boots dig into the piles of snow below me while ice brushes against my face like tiny shards of glass. My vision is hazy as I make my way to the orange truck sitting on the driveway. I open the door and quickly close it shut behind me. My hands are freezing and inside the truck is worse as my breath presents itself in front of me like smoke. I turn the truck on and reverse onto the street towards the closest supermarket. I move my hand to turn on the heater but remember I bought this truck without it and forget to have one installed. I sit in silence driving through the clouded road with no car lights in sight. I remember driving in the snow with my father during my childhood years but quickly relive that horrid day the car flipped over as the tires engaged with the black ice on the road. The feeling of being in midair seeing everything in slow motion while blacking out only to later awake to your father next to you without so much of a movement. I keep my eyes on the road nervous that could happen again and I may not come out alive again. I see the large green and red LED lights reading SuperMarket and pull into the parking lot though the lines are barely visible. I turn the engine off and brace myself to race into the store. Once again, I feel the coldness of Jack Frost’s touch and the harsh ice against my skin. I walk into the store regaining my eyesight as I see the dim lights hovering above and the cockroaches slither back inside the corners. The cashier is an old man with dark gray hair and a small beard hanging just below his lips. His glassy eyes just linger into boredom looking at one spot on the wall to pass time. I head to the condiments section and locate the ranch bottle. I grab it and when I start heading to the cashier, the man is no longer there. As a matter of fact, I’m the only one in the store when suddenly the lights go out and I’m startled by the popping noises made by the bulbs. The blizzard outside is blazing so hard and fast I start to think the building will go with it. As I start to wonder what could be happening, I hear a strange noise. I hear the sound of a wailing baby so distant but still reaching my ears. I glance around and see no one still and I start to get frightened closing my eyes take deep breaths. I hear the crying again but this time only louder. With each loud cry the lights flicker above, and the wind outside only roars louder. I cover my ears wanting the noise to go away trying to convince myself this is nothing but a dream. Suddenly the storm outside stops and the snowflakes are frozen in time. There’s no noise and when I gaze behind me, there lying near my feet is a baby girl wrapped in a faded pink blanket. I stand in shock as I see the baby stare at me. I swallow hard and gently reach my shaking hands below to grab her. When I feel the baby’s body against my fingers, I carefully pick her up to my chest. When I see her face something about her seems oddly familiar to me. I look over the blanket again and see a blue butterfly embroidered at the edge. Seeing the blanket reminded me of the one my mother received from the hospital when I was given to her. The crazy thing was the blanket was identical and that’s when I saw the name Cassandra stitched along the butterfly. This baby and blanket seemed familiar because this baby was me! I couldn’t believe that I was carrying the infant version of myself. I met her soft eyes and she smiled at me as a caressed her face with my hand. She seemed so peaceful and calm when she suddenly began to cry again and the storm outside resumed as the glass windows shattered greeting ice to pour onto the floors. I cradled the baby in my arms screaming for help hoping someone would save me. As I tried to calm the baby, my feet started to float off the ground and the baby disappeared in my arms. I felt the cold down my spine and my entire body go numb. The store around me disappeared and I was back in my orange truck. But I was in moving slowly through time as I realized what was happening. The truck was flipping over like before and the world around me went dark as my body rolled along inside the truck. I fell still and felt nothing. I was dead and my mind was at peace. I opened my eyes to take a long at what the afterlife would offer me, when I saw two stranger’s eyes on me. A man with raven black hair and piercing green eyes had his arm around a woman with light curly blonde hair. I peered at the mirror behind them and saw my reflection. I was a baby again. The same one I had picked up at the store. The same baby wrapped around the butterfly blanket with my name on it. My eyes went back to my parent’s faces as they smiled widely at me and held me tighter in their arms. Around the room were ghost versions of myself all the same age rejoicing in my rebirth. Then from the corner of my eye I saw a black figure moving along the window. There was Baby staring at me with her emerald eyes happy she was once again my guardian. I laughed and lost myself in the warmth of my new parent's embrace and hoped this live I would get right.