Short Story

The girl bent down and stretched out her hand as if she were going to touch the body lying on the roadside.

“No sweetie!” her mother cautioned. “Don’t touch her.”

The child gaped at her mother, obviously shocked and confused.

“Why?” she asked, innocently, totally unaware of what had occurred.

“Because she’s dead sweetheart,” came her mother’s sad reply. She took a deep breath, trying desperately to control the tears that had started to flow. The young girl broke down and began to cry uncontrollably.

They were running late this particular morning. They followed the same routine every morning, the mother went off to catch the bus to work and the daughter caught the bus to school. Frequently, the mother would leave the house an hour before her daughter, but on this morning, they made the journey to the bus stop together.

They strolled side by side down the alley towards the road, chatting about the day ahead. The familiar conversation flowed about what to have for dinner and their plans for the coming weekend. For a while now, it had just been the two of them, mother and daughter, alone, but together.

When they reached the street where they regularly waited for the bus, the mother turned to her daughter and kissed her cheek, ruffling her soft, brown hair.

“Have a good day,” she said, and turned to cross the road.

“Bye Mom,” she replied and began to walk up the street towards her bus stop. Suddenly, the young girl yelled out

“Mom look, Sophie’s here!” Her mom whirled around and to her absolute horror took in the sight of what was lying on the ground near the road.

“Holy cow!” she said, checking for traffic and running across the road. She prayed silently to herself that it wasn’t their dear friend lying near the road. She looked at her daughter, and then back at the roadside. It was definitely her. She studied her daughter’s face, attempting to read her thoughts.

“She can’t be dead,” she cried out, shuddering violently, “Mom, Sophie can’t die.”

The daughter stood there shaking her head, her eyes full of tears. She looked up into her mother’s eyes hopefully but the serious expression on her mother’s face told a different story.

“I’m so sorry sweetheart, but she’s gone,” the mother replied with a tone of finality in her voice.

“What happened Mom, why is she here, so close to the road?” the child asked.

“It looks like a car hit her sweetie,” answered the mother.

“No Mom,” said the child, shaking her head unbelievably, “Sophie would never walk in front of a car.”

“Maybe she didn’t see the car, maybe it was dark,” replied her mother.

“I want to go home Mom,” said the daughter, “I can’t go to school today, I just can’t Mom, I want to go home.”

“I know,” said the mother, suddenly aware that they should go home and make some necessary phone calls.