The Picture On The Wall

A yellow house with sky blue shutters. It has a hot pink garage to match. That garage has a lovely lime green pick up truck with a broken passenger side door. In that house the walls are painted all a different color. Orange for the living room, teal for the kitchen, a plum for the bathroom, and all the ceilings are made to look like a sunny sky. It has two bedrooms; one a pale pink the other has white walls but the previous owner splatter painted them. This house is up for sale, although no one was buying it. Who wouldn’t want this serene little house in Vermont? It is surrounded by nothing but grass, right in the middle of a perfectly ring- shaped field.
Well this house, this house is haunted. Two people formerly lived there. A woman in her early thirties with shiny black hair. Her husband never made the move into this house. He was said to have gone insane, stole a horse, and rode off on their tenth anniversary. The woman, of course, was heartbroken and slowly losing it. Her daughter, a petite girl around the age of seven, was very bright and always happy. She was inquisitive and never stopped asking questions, much to her mother’s annoyance. Her ringlets of gold hair fell way past her shoulders. Her mother would not let her cut them though. “Just like your father,” she would say, before ambling off to do some mundane chore. This, however, isn’t a story about the house or who was interested in it; this is the story about Melissa and Scarlett Esabella Carlson.
“Mom!” I called. “Mom, come quick, I need you.” My mom came running, of course.
“What? Scarlett Esabella, what could you possibly need now?”
“Well,” I said. “I was looking at the picture over the mantel and decided I need you to tell me another story about it.” I loved that picture of the knight. He always saved the princess and the lived “happily ever after.”
“Okay, come sit,” she said. We both sat in the red, no orange, rocking chair.
“Tell the one about how he saves the princess.”
“Your grandpa never saves a princess,” she laughs. I was confused. He wasn’t my grandpa; he was a knight, a story book person.
“I thought you said he was a night, remember?”
“No, that is your grandpa. He loved medieval times, so when he died we had him painted in a fairy tale land. There’s honestly not much to tell about him.” She then quickly kissed the top of my head and went to finish cooking dinner.
I was very sad. I thought he was a knight, not grandpa Dan. When it came time for dinner, mom turned out all the lights again. I didn’t wonder, or worry, she just liked eating by candle. We had to take our shoes off again also; she started this two weeks ago. I picked up my fork, and looked at my plate, no bowl. “Soup again, icky.” I said. We had soup so many times this week, I lost count. “Mommy, I don’t want soup. And how do I eat it with a fork?”
“You love soup.” She said nothing about the fork so I followed her lead and drank my soup, icky carrots and all.
After dinner we threw away our plastic bowls and forks. Then mom put the candles in the window and we left for family…something with a “c.” I think mom said it was cowsellin, or maybe something different. I don’t really remember. The car ride was boring. We had no music and mom liked to drive with the windows rolled down. Good thing there was little wind. Once we got there we waited in the waiting room. I played puzzles and mom sat on the floor, eyes closed and said “hmmm, hmmm, hmmm.” I don’t think she liked coming here. “Mommy,” I tapped her on the shoulder. “Why do you go hmmm, hmmm, hmmm?”
“Because I do Scarlett, now be quiet.”
This week, Ms. Donna, mom says she is a social worker, asked us to put on a play. We picked up our animals and went behind the curtains. “Now Scarlett, don’t forget to say thank you after you open grandma’s present.” I nodded and went to continue but Ms. Donna stopped us.
“Excuse me Melissa, what did you say?” Mom seemed confused, and then seemed to remember.
“I just told my little Scarlett to remember to play nice with the puppets because I don’t want to ruin them.” She said this with confidence that I forgot all about the first comment. We put on our show then Ms. Donna said it was time to go home. She gave us a big hug, which she had never done before, and told us she would not be seeing us again. Mom seemed happy, she didn’t like her. I was sad because I like coming here to play with my mom. When we got home mom doused all the candles in the sink and put them in the microwave. It was pitch black in the house so I knew this meant bedtime.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Two weeks have gone by now. School started, I’m in the first grade… again. I think it’s because I skipped school a lot last year. The first week was probably boring, I didn’t go. I went outside and hid behind the bushes. When he bus came by in the afternoon, I went inside. Mom had no clue. She did… whatever during the day.
We continued on pretty much the same. Mom would tell me funny things like “I hope you are having fun at Disney.” And “Don’t forget dad says to eat all your veggies before you can go outside.” They were really funny and made me laugh. The last time I went to Disney I was two and dad left when I was three. She also told me a new story about the picture. It went like this, “That picture, its three feet by two feet, is your father. He is riding the horse he stole the night he left. The woman is me, I think. He had it painted two weeks before he left, it was well planned out.”
“What about me?”
“I don’t know, maybe he forgot.”
“Yeah, maybe.” I mumbled. I knew thought that the dragon creature was me. My dad never liked me. He said “I got in the way,” and “you cry a lot like a whiny little monster.” I believed this story because under the painting was the name “John Carlson,” my father’s name.
After that I studied the picture everyday. I imagined where he was and what he was doing. I wondered if he even remembers me and mom. Sometimes I ask mom if she knows where dad is and if he is coming home. She just kept shaking her head and saying “I don’t know. Be careful, soup is hot.” Soon I stopped asking. I like to pretend dad is a king. He left because his kingdom was in trouble. Someday he’s going to come back and take us with him. Mom will be his queen and I could be their princess.
One day when I got “home form school” I knew something was wrong. First off, the front door was closed not open. Second there was a black Mercedes in the driveway. I walked in and Ms. Donna was sitting at the table with mommy and another lady. The other lady introduced herself as Hannah Lee. “Scarlett,” Ms. Donna began. “This is Hannah Lee, she is a foster mother. Remember we talked about those?” I nodded. “Well,” she continued, “I reviewed my notes and decided maybe you can stay with Hannah while your mom gets better.”
“She’s sick?”
“No, but maybe her mind could use some rest.”
“Oh, okay. I’ll be real quiet.” I tiptoed to my room then I closed the door real hard, and lay down while the adults talked.
Tonight at dinner the lights were on and mom talked about me leaving. I sniffled a lot. She said she was very unhappy because dad left and needed to recover in a hospital. She said it wouldn’t be bad if I could go live with Hannah Lee until she could come home. I cried and ran to my room. I didn’t want to leave my mom; especially after I found out she was sick. At eight my mom came in and rubbed my back. She brushed my hair and finally spoke. “I am sorry honey; I should have gotten better sooner.”
“But you didn’t and now I have to leave you.” I cried some more and kicked her off my bed. She stood up and I could see she had tears in her eyes just like me. “Mommy, I’m so sorry. Please don’t cry.”
“I’m upset because you are right Scarlett. I should have tried to get better sooner. I am really sorry; I didn’t mean to hurt you. If you want I can stay home, I’m sure to get better some time.”
“Really!? Then we could play all day and I would never have to leave you!”
“Well, you still have school and I would have to go back to work, but we would have a little time to play.” I cried some more because she thought I was a good girl who went to school. I think I would tell her the truth now, but what if she was angry.
“Mommy, I haven’t gone to school, I hid behind the bushes all day.” I quietly told her this so maybe she wouldn’t hear, she did.
“Oh my, why would you do that Scarlett Esabella?”
“I did that because I was afraid if I wasn’t watching you, you would leave like daddy. Did you know kids at my school point and say ‘There’s the one with the crazy dad?’”
“I had no idea. I am so sorry Scarlett.”
“It’s okay; I just want you to get better so you can come back and live with me.”
“Oh, I will Scarlett Esabella. Now do you have any questions for me?” I did and she answered them all. She told me I could bring a bag with some stuff, and that I would visit her on weekends. She also said I would be living with seven other girls. This excited me most because I have always wanted lots of sisters. Then we both went to bed. I cried until I finally fell asleep, and mommy slept outside my door like she used to when I had bad dreams.
The next day Hannah Lee came to get me. Mom gave me a three by two by two foot bag. In it I put some clothes, a stuffed animal, and a couple other things. Mom gave me a hug and kiss. “Be a good girl my little Scarlett Esabella, and maybe even cut your hair.” Then she gave me one more quick kiss before embarking on a journey that could take two months. We both cried as she drove down the driveway, but I tried to put on a brave face for her. Then her car turned the corner so I cried again.
“It’s okay Scarlett, you will see mommy very soon. You’ll see the time will fly by.” I sniffle and gave a little nod to show I was okay. Hannah Lee bent to pick up my bag. “It’s going to be really fun having you with us. Jane, who is nine, is really looking forward to it. All the other girls are older, now she’ll have someone to play with.” The she tried to pick up the bag. “Wow, that’s heavy. What do you have in there?”
“Clothes, stuffed animals and a picture.”
“Are you sure that’s all?” So this time I was more specific. I told her,
“Two dresses, two pairs of jeans, two sweatshirts, eight t- shirts, a bunch of socks and underwear, and my teddy bear.” I took a breath before saying the final object. “And the picture on the wall.”