The Prediction
By Jean Rezab
Order Now!
CHAPTER 1
“But, Daddy,” Thea protested, “I know Fluffy died.”
“She did not die, Thea,” Dr. Ted Whitaker told his four-year-old daughter, pointing to the cat on the floor next to them. “She’s right here.”
Fluffy seemed to understand they were talking about her, because she purred and settled on the window seat beside Thea. Thea touched her tentatively, as if she expected the cat to disappear in front of their eyes. Then she scooped her up and buried her face in the cat’s neck.
“I told you, Thea, I do not want to hear you talking that way again.” He rubbed his forehead. Why did she have to keep telling these stories? How many times was he going to have to correct her until she stopped? He went down on one knee in front of his daughter and put his large hand on her own small, pink clad knee. “Thea, look at me.”
She slowly turned from the shelter of the cat. Her wide brown eyes studied him with a look he didn’t want to decipher but knew intimately. He’d seen that look so many times when he glanced in the mirror.
“I need you to stop telling these stories. Do you understand me?”
She stuck out her bottom lip and shook her head. “No.”
He almost smiled at her stubbornness but this was too important. “Some day you’ll know what I mean. Trust me. Now, promise me.”
She hesitated for a long moment. “I promise.”
He smiled at her and gave her a hug. “This is for your own good.”
He ignored the bewilderment reflected in her eyes. This was for her own good, and some day she would understand.
A few hours later, he watched the cat slip out of the house when Thea went outside to pick up her toys. He heard the screech of tires on the street outside and rushed to see what had happened. A young woman got out of the white Chevy Citation parked in the middle of the road and walked around the front bumper to stare down at Fluffy. The cat lay unmoving. Dead.
The woman’s hand flew to her mouth. “I’m so sorry.”
Ted gazed at his daughter standing on the front step, staring at him with accusing eyes and tears running down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry.” He echoed the young woman.