• This does get a bit scary because it is a gothic short story and it is kinda hard to follow, but it should be fairly fun to read and understand to some extent.


    “Time for bed, Darling” Mommy said.

    She took my hand and walked me off toward my bedroom. It was late, but I still wasn't tired. I frowned, pulling my hand away and stomped my foot.

    “But Mommy, I'm not tired!” I exclaimed.

    She gave me a smile, but it looked sad. “Yes, but it's your bed time, Darling. Every little five-year-old girl needs her sleep.”

    “Why can't I have five more minutes?”

    “Why don't you go brush your teeth, and get your PJ’s on? Just be in bed in five minutes and I'll be there to kiss your head goodnight,” Mommy said in her soft voice.

    I smiled. “Okay, Mommy. Five minutes and I'll be in bed.”

    Turning, my little feet made as much noise as they could down the wooden floor hallway, sometimes feeling the little cracks on my little toes.

    Scrubbing my mouth, I brushed my tongue then meowed to myself in the mirror like the cat that lived down the road, Scarlet Snow. Mommy said that's not her name and her name is really Timothy, but Timothy is a boy's name and Scarlet Snow is clearly a girl even when Mommy always says she's a boy.


    “She doesn't even look like a Timothy!” I said very loudly to myself, pointing at my reflection in the mirror as I made a weird face. “She will look like a Scarlet Snow, just like Mommy looks like a mommy, and I look like every little girl. That's how it always works, duh.” I rolled my eyes and looked at my toothpaste-bubble-mustache before licking it off and spitting it back into the sink, washing my toothbrush and laying it back down next to the toothpaste-splattered counter. Mommy would clean that up before I had to brush my teeth again. She always did.

    Glancing in the mirror once more, I gazed into my ice blue eyes. They stared back at me and I could feel a creeping coldness climb up my legs until it reached the top of my head.....

    I blinked, glancing around at the snow and darkness that surrounded me. It was cold out, but I felt perfectly warm besides the tip of my nose and the tips of my ears. Something twitches to the side of my vision and I tilt my head cautiously before seeing a furry white snake waving gently in the air. The snake slithered forward through the air before it brushed up against my nose, making me let out a tinny little sneeze. My fur tail twitches before disappearing behind my head once more. A low growl escapes my throat and I glanced up at the window of the house. There was a small little girl staring at herself in the mirror. She looked frozen, as if she couldn't move at all.

    Sitting down, I stared fiercely up through the window, throwing my mind out towards the window –

    – I jumped, staring at myself with wide eyes at myself in the mirror.

    “Darling, are you alright? You look like you were just scared half to death,” Mommy said, stepping into the bathroom which startled me and made me jump.

    “M-mommy, I-I was just outside – h-how was I just outside?” I asked, my teeth clattering together as I started to shiver from cold.

    Mommy reached down and picked me up.

    “Oh goodness, you're freezing cold,” she said, kissing my forehead, rubbing her hand up and down my back quickly trying to create some warmth. “Let's go off to bed, okay?”

    I nodded slowly, still confused at what had just happened. “Mommy... I think I was just a cat....”

    “Yes, you are my little kitty cat, darling.” She kissed the top of my head once again. Her lips felt warm, but I could clearly feel the frown under her little smile.

    I didn't answer. I was staring out at the ice blue eyes that glazed in the light of the bathroom through the window, but they disappeared in a blink of an eye, so I couldn't tell if it was really there or not before Mommy was walking down the hallway and into my room.

    Mommy helped me put my PJ's on before tucking me into bed, where I sat there staring out of my own bedroom window. The same ice blue eyes stared through them like in the bathroom, but they were staying there this time....

    “Mommy...” I trailed off, glancing at her and then back at the window. “There's someone outside watching me.”

    I looked at her and she looked out of the window as she sat down slowly on the edge of my bed near my feet.

    “Darling, there's nothing there. It's probably just the snow dancing in the light.”

    I quickly looked at the window and frowned. The ice blue eyes were gone. Maybe it was just snowflakes....

    Shaking my head, I folded my arms. “Well, whatever it is, Daddy won’t let it hurt me.”

    Mommy patted my foot. She smiled at me, but I could see that her eyes were still sad. “Honey, you know that Dad isn't coming back home... yes?”

    I made a weird face, staring at Mommy in disbelief. “Why not? He gave me hugs and kisses last night after you left.”

    She gave me back another heart-broken frown.

    Mommy looked just so sad.

    Just like Daddy did before the 'accident'....

    I laughed. Daddy was skating across the recently frozen-over lake. It was pretty outside. Like a snowy wonderland. He gave me a bow as he skated backwards, his white teeth dazzling the snow around us with its whiteness in comparison as his green eyes gazed at me in a sad, yet almost smiling way.

    “Darling, why not come and skate with me?” Daddy half-laughed. “I bet you'd like it.”

    I smiled, standing up and walking over very carefully over the frozen ground. It was slippery, and I kept sliding and slipping here-and-there. I even fell once on my bum, making Daddy laugh. But it was a sad laugh. Just like his eyes.

    It made me sad, too, his sad eyes. It made me remember what had happened – but they didn't know. Mommy and Daddy would never know, until it was too late....

    Reaching out, my little fingers grasped for Daddy's outstretched hands. They were so close, I could feel the heat of his fingers against mine before it happened. Before he fell in.

    The ice had cracked. Fallen apart from under his feet.

    It became empty out over the ice land. Frozen. Cold. Empty.... White.

    The ice was thin there, and it was too late before his warm little fingers disappeared and turned frozen and white.

    Just like half of my favorite color....

    “Darling, you know that Daddy is... gone. He's not coming back after what happened,” Mommy said, bring me back to looking into her sad brown eyes. They didn't match the other half of my favorite color. Pink – two of my two favorite colors. Daddy was one, and Mommy was the other, but Mommy didn't know that yet.

    Mommy bent down and kissed the top of my head, but I ignored her. She was lying. Daddy was there. He always came and kissed my goodnight.

    “Goodnight, darling,” Mommy whispered.

    “Night Mommy. I'll tell Daddy that he should talk to you when he comes to say goodnight,” I said as I laid down and turned to face my now dark and empty window.

    “Mommy, can you... close my window curtain, please?” I asked, starting to get nervous as I stared at the empty nothing that stared back.

    I could tell Mommy got even more upset about what I said about Daddy, but she didn't say anything more about him and stood up to close the window, muttering “Yes, Deary.” After my window was covered, she disappeared from my vision, closing the door softly behind herself as she left my room....

    Minutes later, I opened my eyes again to find Daddy's smile. Jumping up, I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Mommy says I'm a liar!” I said in a loud whisper that muffled into his neck. He was cold, and his skin had no feeling. Just like his color. Empty. White.

    He laughed.

    “Your Mommy is like that, but I cannot blame her, though. She is doing alright, yes?” He pulled me back to look into my eyes. Daddy's eyes used to be a bright green, but some of the color has disappeared – turned more white – but he's still my Daddy. My Daddy.

    “No. Mommy isn't alright at all. She fake smiles, like you used to.”

    Daddy laughed. A white laugh. “Yes. I used to fake smile, huh? But don't worry, Mommy will soon give you a real smile.”

    His white hands went through my hair red curls and he kissed my head once more on the forehead before standing up and walking towards the door of my room.

    A meow echoed off my window. Glancing over, I found that the curtains had been moved Scarlet Snow was there standing on the windowsill, gazing into the room with her's ice blue eyes.

    “Hello, Scarlet Snow,” I laughed quietly, waving.

    The cat sneezed before going back to staring at me through my window. Slowly she stood up and turned before hopping off of the outside windowsill and disappeared into the dark.

    Smiling to myself, I looked back to where... wait. Where was Daddy?

    My white Daddy was gone, leaving my room a darker shade of color then it was before.

    Letting out a tired and upset breath of air, I laid back down in my bed and closed my eyes....

    It was probably a few hours later when I woke up with a startling sound. Rubbing my eyes, I yawned.

    “Mommy, Daddy, someone's yelling,” I said very loudly, my voice sounding sleepy.

    There was no reply.

    I waited a few moments more, trying to hear another sound but didn't hear Mommy, Daddy or the yelling anymore so I shouted out Mommy and Daddy's name a bit louder.

    Still silence filled the house.

    “Daddy,” I shouted, staring at my closed door.

    Still no sound filled the house.

    Nervously, I glanced down at my little nightlight then back at the bedroom door again. Blankness filled the cracks that led into the place beyond on the other side.

    I picked up my little pink pillow and squeezed it tightly, climbing down onto the ground with it and walking slowly to the dark door. Taking a deep breath, I reached up and slowly twisted the knob and the door silently opened inward, revealing into the dark hallway.

    Reaching up, I flipped my bedroom light on and then walked over to the hallway switch and turned it on. Yep, empty like when Mommy and Daddy left it earlier this night.

    “Mommy, Daddy,” I started once again, my little heart skipping a little beat, “why are you so quiet? There was a loud scary sound.”

    Walking down slowly, I stopped right in front of Mommy and Daddy's bedroom. Squeezing the little pink pillow, I then reached up a little hand and twisted the doorknob. It slowly creaked open into the dark room....

    There was a sound. Oh so quiet, but my little ears picked it up and I stepped backwards in fright.

    Listening for it once again, there was nothing. Only silence filled my ears now and I frowned in confusion.

    “Ears, you aren't very nice, tricking me like that,” I said out loud, using my right hand to hit my right ear. “It's not very nice at all.”

    Wrapping my arms around the little pink pillow once more, I walked forward into Mommy and Daddy's room slowly and reached up to turn their bedroom light on.

    No one was there. Their unmade bed was empty, the whole place white.

    “Mommy, Daddy,” I said nervously, looking around and walking up to their big bed with the covers all spread out without someone here to fix them.

    Reaching out to the spot where Mommy always slept, it was still felt warm under my fingers. She had to be here somewhere – Daddy, too.

    Turning, I walked into their bathroom and switched the light on. Nothing was there. It was the same like it always was. Clean. Empty. White.

    Squeezing the little pink pillow, I turned the light off again and closed the door before looking around Mommy and Daddy's room once more. My little heart was still beating fast and I took a deep breath.

    They wouldn't leave me, I thought to myself. I'm still a good little girl – Mommy and Daddy always said so.

    There it was again.

    That sound.

    So faint, yet so loud in the empty room....

    “Mommy?” I asked out loud. “Daddy?”

    It happened again, and I turned my gaze to their closet.

    “Mommy, are you trying to play hide-and-go-seek with me?” I asked, rolling my eyes and letting out a deep sigh like Daddy would do sometimes when he was tired of a joke.

    I walked up to the closet and pulled the door wide open.

    “Found you!” I shouted loudly, Squinting in the dark space.

    The sound disappeared.

    Their closet was large and their clothes were everywhere. Hugging my pillow tightly and glanced up where the light switch was, I frowned.

    It was too high. One of the kinds on a string that only Mommy and Daddy could reach to pull.

    Still frowning, I looked through the dark closet without it in the dim light that filtered from behind the closet door from the room. I would have to make do without it.

    I walked in and pulled aside some clothes, trying to find Mommy and Daddy. They were here somewhere. I knew it.

    Moving one of Mommy's dresses to the side, I screamed.

    Something had brushed up against my leg.

    “Meow?”

    Glancing down, I saw the glint of to ice blue eyes.

    “Scarlet Snow, what have I told you about scaring people!” I exclaimed, squeezing my pillow even tighter. “It's not nice!”

    The cat only continued to purr and rubbed up against my leg more.

    Turning back to the clothes, I pulled aside a few more things before I touched something. It was warm. And wet. Red.

    Shoving the clothes aside even more, I let out a sigh.

    “I found you, Mommy.”

    She didn't reply.

    I reached out and brushed some of her wet hair aside from her face and tucked it behind her ear. She was always prettier in red.

    “Looks like you finally found your color,” I said through a smile, watching the warm, wet, red glide down her pale skin. It was like silk that stained everywhere it went. Even her brown eyes now swam with red.

    Scarlet Snow meowed, sitting down by my feet and started to lick her red-stained paws.

    Looking over to the cat, I saw empty white eyes gazing at my red mommy and then at me and then at the pooling red on the ground where something shined.

    Reaching down, I picked up the sharp butcher knife from the pool of red.

    “Looks like Daddy help you find your color, Mommy.”

    Someone let out a cough, and I jumped up quickly and turned around, startled.

    “There you are, Daddy!” I exclaimed, holding out the sharp knife still.

    He smiled, but his white eyes screamed as they looked down at the cat. Her eyes were back to their ice blue.

    “Why aren't you in bed?” He asked, eying the sharp knife in my hand with his screaming eyes.

    “I woke up to a scream,” I started, “and found Mommy with her color.” I looked back down at her and smiled in aw.

    Scarlet Snow went back to licking her paws. They were now pink, like my two favorite colors.

    “Isn't she pretty now?” I sighed, a coldness creeping up into my limbs once more.

    My vision flickered before I was down close to the floor, a small little paw moving as I liked it. Meowing, looking up from where I was cleaning my paws.

    Three ghosts stared down at me in terror.

    One was white, and the other was red.

    Together, they made pink.

    Pink, like the little girl who didn't know she was already dead – just like all the other times before. How they would find a cat sitting on their door steps, licking its white paws, as if cleaning itself from something that it's done....

    Scarlet Snow. What a charming name. Put together so well. It makes my two favorite colors, you know. Pink.

    Smiling to myself, the way cats do, a purr vibrates through my throat. My tail twitched with satisfaction. My favorite color was finished here. Now to move onto the next place – but first, I lifted myself up off of where I was sitting and walked over to the little pink pillow that now laid lonely on the ground next to the sharp red knife. Curling up, I let one eye gaze on the three silent ghosts.

    They all stood there, eyes wide, like almost every time this had happened. I would first start with the only daughter, sucking out her memories and making them my own while her soul floats like a doll-shaped cloud in the sky until her body is completely used up and I return back to the animal of my choice. The parent's bodies were always easy to dispose of – one way, or another.

    Stretching, I let my tongue roll out as I yawned. There wouldn't be a need to take over a body for a few days, and I'm sure the next little girl wouldn't mind so much if I was a couple of hours late.

    As for Timothy, well, he wasn't really much of a cat, anyways.