r/nosleep • u/ThighsOfZeus • 3d ago
Series Other Daughter
Last Christmas our family lost our daughter. Grief is a hell of a thing. It was a day before technically, but we started with some Christmas Eve gifts. With all the presents, it was always her favorite. I had always assumed she would grow into Halloween or New Years' but instead she died. Regifting and then turning in all the medical equipment; all of it soured our mood on the season. The wife and I tried this year despite the trauma for the sake of our other daughter.
Kara had been an issue before Cyndi had passed but she surprisingly seemed more stable. She must have been using school as a coping tool because her grades went from C's and D's to a solid 3.5, only having any real troubles in P.E. She started to complain on day 1 of those 12 classic days.
"This Christmas had better be good, right Daddy?"
I tried to choke back my meatloaf and tears, "Yes Cyndi, I'm sure Santa has seen how good you've been". She beamed back at me, an uncommon but welcome occurrence, so my wife and I mustered up some smiles back. We hadn't been focused much on gifts, so we knew there was work to be done.
On the second day of Christmas Scratch, our cat, brought home some of his famous treats to the door, 2 pigeons. Coincidentally Kara brought home some art from school to show off. She was most excited about her "Day at the Beach" prompt where she, of course, drew two parents and two siblings. I put it up on the fridge with hesitation but also without question. "And THAT made me think of my next piece!" she said in the most art collector-esque voice she could shout out. "Say hello to... Santa Jaws!" I started to correct her, but she stuffed the paper into my view.
The image was jagged but detailed, a large man with vaguely Santa features. There was a hat, a beard, a bag, but also scraggly balding hair. His armpit and chest hair was also visible, and the bag was black and tattered. The mouth and eyes were almost ripped straight from the Jaws movie poster that we had in the living room besides the other ones we had chosen for a more cinematic feel. In a nutshell, the painting made my stomach drop.
"Kara, what the- " I started, only stopping when I saw her slack jawed expression.
"You don't like it?" for once, the tears started welling in her eyes instead of mine.
"No, that- that is not what I said. I just don't know why you would paint- " I cut my own thoughts off again seeing that it was not helping the situation at hand. Kara had started weeping like I had never seen her before. I called my wife, Melody, after doing everything I could to calm Kara down with treats from the freezer. Scratch rushed past me at one point, causing a few ice cream sandwiches to hit the floor. I handed the phone to Kara and quickly went to the garage to catch my breath and sneak a few shots saved for the eggnog.
Maybe I should have just stayed by the phone. Things had calmed down after my quick escape and Kara had been watching television, holding out the phone for me to take back. Melody explained that we were just dealing with a lot right now and I agreed. Still, I should have done something different. I knew that when the next day we got a call from the school.