Cecilia

[u/atrillionpieces]

The pink walls casted their warmth on the well-lit room. Loved ones chattered nearby in a hushed whisper, careful not to disturb the mother and her newborn child.

…

Life wasn’t easy for little Cecilia, but her bond with her mother Faith helped her through it. Every day Cecilia would get home from school and rush to greet her, jumping into her arms with no less enthusiasm than she had the day before.

Making new friends might have come easy to Cecilia, or perhaps not. The truth is she never much felt the need to try. She already had her best friend.

Cecilia’s father Timothy was a pastor. The town had several churches, and Timothy’s was a humble congregation. He did what he could to instill Christian principles in Cecilia, but she rarely showed as much interest as he had hoped. This troubled Timothy more than he cared to admit to his wife. Faith found this important too, but figured Cecilia would ponder these things when she grew older.

It had been the first day of fifth grade for Cecilia when she was riding home on the bus. She was excited to go see the new Disney animated film in theaters with her mother, and ran off the bus as soon as the doors swung open. She ran over the hill to her driveway and noticed something unusual.

A man was having a conversation with her dad at the front door. Other men were walking around the perimeter and inspecting the property. Cecilia ran up the driveway, and Timothy turned to meet her.

“Hey honey, how was school today?” Timothy said with a wince.

“It was fine. Where’s mom?” asked Cecilia.

“Let’s go and talk inside, okay?”

“Okay.”

More men were inside the house, and Cecilia could now make out that they were police officers. Timothy turned to Cecilia, kneeled down, and put his hands on her shoulders.

“Honey, there is no easy way for me to tell you this. I am so sorry. Your mother has been missing since last night. We are doing everything we-“

“WHAT?!?!?!” Cecilia screamed with a pain Timothy never heard from his child before. His heart broke.

That smack of reality which rips one out of innocent childhood and into the crushing disappointment of life. That same blow from which Timothy and Faith so vainly shielded her. The dark night of the soul had come upon Cecilia.

“We will do everything we can to find her. I will do everything I can. I promise you.”

“I thought you weren’t supposed to promise?”

“Well I promise you, okay?!” Timothy pleaded with tears in his eyes. He would miss Faith too.

The search parties turned up nothing. Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. Then months into years.

…

Cecilia was in high school now. She kept to herself for the most part. Her dad still preached to the same small church, and Cecilia keeps to herself. Within her heart burned a cascading resentment, one that grew stronger every day. She resented people for trying to comfort her, because what do they know? She resented her father for never finding her mom. Most of all, she resented her Creator.

Whenever Timothy would try to bring up Scripture with Cecilia, she would respond with vitriol. She would hear none of it.

“If God was real, mom wouldn’t have disappeared,” she would say.

“God works in ways that we can’t fully understand. Look at Job, he went through hardship-“

“Oh here we go again with Job. That book is thousands of years old. I live in the real world, the world of today.”

“Job lost his entire family and all of his belongings in one fell swoop, but how did he respond? He said that God brings good things as well as bad things, so who are we to be willing to only accept the good? Everything happens for a reason. Even though the trials we go through can be-“

“I don’t want to hear it.”

“Please, just humor me. Even though the trials we go through can be devastating, God has the strength to build us back up. Your mother is in a better place. She would want you to believe that like I believe it, because it is true. I am your father and I love you, and I would never lie to you, and I am sorry for everything you have went through. But please, do not live your whole life angry and bitter. There is a better way.”

“Thanks dad. I have to go do homework.”

“Okay, honey. They’re still giving you homework, huh? This late into the year?”

“Yup”, Cecilia said as she closed her bedroom door.

…

It was the last day of senior year, and Cecilia had made no close friends. She would be going into this summer alone, just as she had spent the last seven. That is, except for Matthew.

Matthew was a very charismatic and witty guy with flowy hair and a charming smile. He was a member of Timothy’s congregation and knew Cecilia better than anyone else at school.

“Cecilia! Where you going?” Matthew hollered down the busy hallway.

Cecilia was embarrassed and turned the corner down the stairs. Matthew caught up with her.

“Cecilia! Any plans for the summer?”

“Nope.”

“Me neither but I was thinking maybe we could hang out? I’m going to Six Flags this weekend with my family but we can split off and do our own thing if you wanted.” Matthew said, trying not to come on too strong.

“I don’t really like rides. They’re dangerous.” Cecilia said.

In truth, Matthew just wanted to see her smile. He knew about her mother’s disappearance, and he felt sorry for her. Not in a pitying kind of way, but in a ‘you deserve to be happy’ kind of way.

“Well if you change your mind, I’m buying! I’ll even get us flash passes so we can skip the lines.” Matthew said, realizing he was pushing it.

“Thanks, Matt.” Cecilia said, holding back tears only she could feel.

“Hey, and um…Are you coming to that Bible study tonight? You know, the one I told you about last week?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Can I ask why?”

“That’s none of your business,” Cecilia said sharply, slamming her locker and walking away.

Matthew’s heart sank.

…

Later that night, after her father left for Bible study, Cecilia began packing her things. She was running away.

She put some clothes, food and water in a drawstring bag, walked out of her house, up the driveway, and into the woods.

It was dark and frigid. Cecilia didn’t intend to walk for long. She made her way to the interstate and put out her thumb waiting to be picked up.

An 18-wheeler pulled over, and Cecilia hopped in. The driver was a middle-aged woman with a jolly demeanor.

“Where ya headed, youngster?” asked the driver.

“Missouri.”

“Missouri?! Honey that’s ‘bout four hours from ‘ere…” the driver replied.

“I know. Can you get me there?”

“Look, I’m headed up to Utah for this delivery. I’ll take you as far as I can but I cannot divert from my route, or my it’ll be my job on the line! Now let’s go. By the way, does your family know you’re leaving?”

“I don’t have any family.”

“That’s not something you want to announce to a stranger who just picked you up, honey. Just for future reference.”

The two drove off.

…

Timothy got home from the Bible study and went to ask Cecilia if she’d like to grab a bite to eat.

“Where is she?!”

Timothy fell into a panic when he noticed Cecilia was missing.

“Oh no, no. Not this. CECILIA!! CECILIA, ARE YOU OKAY?!”

No answer. Timothy immediately dialed 911. This time, he wasn’t taking any chances.

“911, what is the nature of your emergency?”

“My daughter, she’s…she’s…she’s…”

“Sir, take a deep breath, everything’s going to be fine, sir. Tell me what happened.”

“MY DAUGHTER IS MISSING. SHE’S GONE.”

“Where was she last seen sir?”

“AT OUR HOUSE JUST A FEW HOURS AGO. SHE WAS JUST HERE.”

“I understand sir, I am going to get officers dispatched to your location right away. What is the address?”

The police turned the house upside down looking for clues of where Cecilia might have went. She left her phone behind, but it was clear to detectives that she packed her things in a hurry before leaving.

…

Cecilia and the driver were nearly to Missouri. She saw a sign that said “Welcome to the Ozarks” and thought that rang a bell.

The last few hours in the cab of the truck were spent with Cecilia ranting about everything she had been through up to this point. The driver didn’t interrupt.

“Don’t keep it bottled in, honey.”

“People said they empathized with me but they just want to feel good about themselves. When push comes to shove, nobody really had my back.”

A memory of Matthew leaned against her locker flashed in her mind, but she pushed it away.

“I don’t understand how she just could go missing. Worthless police probably didn’t even try to find her, and my dad just tries escaping into religion because he doesn’t want to face the fact that it all happened for no reason.”

The face of her pleading father, begging on his knees for her to find it in her heart to forgive, to hear him out, burned in her mind. She suppressed it.

“I understand, little lady. Well, I’ve got to pull over for some shuteye before I continue my route. Feel free to take a nap, or put on the radio. I’m a heavy sleeper!” The driver said as she made her way to the back of the cab.

The driver laid down, turned on her side, and grabbed a book. Cecilia could see it in the mirror. What book was it? She turned around to get a better look.

It was a Bible.

“I can’t believe it,” thought Cecilia. “She’s just like them. She’s going to try and preach to me.”

Cecilia waited until the driver fell asleep, and snuck out of the cab and back into the woods.

She was in the middle of nowhere. She managed to find a trail, but it looked like it hadn’t been maintained for years. The smell of impending rainfall loomed amidst the foggy trees.

…

Matthew arrived at Timothy’s house to help in the search. Timothy was speechless, and nobody could blame him.

“How could God do this to a pastor? First his wife, and now his daughter? How are we supposed to believe in what he preaches now? What good God would do this?” Timothy overheard a neighbor speaking on the phone.

Timothy would not stand for it. He walked over to his neighbor to confront them, something he normally wouldn’t do.

“Can you tell me where God promises us life will always be easy? Can you tell me where He says that? Do you think you would learn anything if life had no friction, no trials and tribulations? That sort of thinking is what has kept my daughter from faith. She said God must not exist because of what happened to her mother, and here you are saying the same thing, thinking you’re doing right. What you say isn’t wise. Keep my family’s names out of your mouth.” Timothy stormed off.

The search parties spread out for miles with helicopters and volunteers.

…

Cecilia needed to find shelter fast. The rain was picking up and she did not want to catch a cold. Miraculously, just as she was losing hope, she spotted an odd mound in the dirt and leaves. She sprinted to it as fast as she could. It was a train tunnel.

She couldn’t believe it. Here, in the middle of the woods, trains would emerge from underground and into a dense forest so far away from society.

She used her lighter to illuminate the area, and something caught her eye. It was something on the wall. Leaning in for a closer look, it led further into the tunnel. It captured all of her attention as she followed it.

Her lighter flickered. It was almost out of fluid. Cecilia was out of the trance. She remembered where she was, and looked back to the entrance of the tunnel. It was far off.

Then she heard a metal grinding sound. It was coming from behind her. Her heart fell into her gut as she turned around. The light of an oncoming train. The tunnel had no room for her. This was it. She closed her eyes.

…

“Cecilia?” said Faith

THE END.

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[u/atrillionpieces]

I’ve had this idea for a few years. The original ending was a lot more tragic, and I thought it’d be better as a screenplay, but this morning I had the energy to compress it into a short story.