by Ron Ripley
She motioned to the corner where the phone had slid into, the action causing her neck to spasm with pain.
“Did you hear me?” the dead woman howled. “No wonder she’s a punk!”
Ariana held onto her father as he strode over to the corner, bent down and picked the phone up, the receiver dangling at the end of its coiled cord.
The ghost stiffened. “What are you doing?”
Ivan Denisovich didn’t answer.
Not with words.
He hurled the phone to the floor as the dead woman screamed for him to stop. Sharp pieces of broken plastic from the phone’s casing shot into the air, one of them grazing Ariana’s forehead. The ghost let out a terrified shriek.
“No! No, I’m not ready!” the dead woman begged.
Ariana’s father’s response was simple and eloquent.
He lifted a booted foot, and he brought it smashing down onto the phone until the ghost was cast into darkness.
Bonus Scene Chapter 4: At Home and With Her Father
Ariana had a small Band-Aid on her forehead and a heating pad on her neck. Her father had explained to her mother that Ariana had fallen at the playground. Neither of them felt the woman should know about the important lessons he taught Ariana.
Her mother was a kind, sweet woman, and she wouldn’t understand about the important work Ariana’s father wanted her to do.
Ariana snuggled against her father, the man’s large arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders. He had finished reading the tale of Baba Yaga, and he was yawning as they sat in her bed.
“Ariana,” he said after a moment.
“Yes, Father?” she asked, closing her eyes.
“How are you feeling, daughter?” he asked.
“Tired,” she said, fighting to stay awake. She had heard her father tell her mother that he would have to leave again in the morning. He would be back soon, by the end of the month, but he still had to go.
“I am very proud of you,” her father said after a moment. “You are a strong, smart girl. I am blessed to have you as my child.”
“Thank you,” she said happily, pressing herself against him. The beat of his heart was loud and comforting in her ear.
“There will be a time,” he said hesitantly, “that I may not be able to come and see you anymore.”
Ariana sat up, real fear springing into her heart.
“What do you mean?” she whispered.
Her father smiled. “What I mean, my dear one is that all men and women die. Death is our familiar friend, someone to welcome when the time comes. If it is my time, then I will go willingly. And only then will I not be able to see you. Only then will you need to wait until old age has claimed you for you to see me again.”
“Oh,” Ariana said in a hushed voice.
Her father pulled her close to him again, nestling her head against his chest. He rubbed her head, his large hands gentle.
“There is something else I must say,” he said, his voice becoming firm. “If I am robbed of my life. If I am taken before I feel it is my time, then you will see me again, and long before you pass on.”
“Do you promise?” she asked, closing her eyes.
“I promise,” he said, his voice rumbling within his chest. “I promise.”
“Thank you,” Ariana whispered.
“You are most welcome, my daughter,” her father replied, and he began to hum.
Sleep pulled at her, and she fought it for as long as she could.
Ariana Leckie loved her father more than anything or anyone in the world, and when he left her, she wept for days.
Bonus Scene Chapter 5: A Package Arrives
Five days after her father's last visit, Ariana sat at the dining table. Her mother was on the phone with Aunt Suzy, and Ariana was focused on the new spelling words her second-grade teacher Mrs. Kime had assigned.
There was a knock at the front door, and she glanced at her mother.
Her mother nodded, smiled, and continued on with the conversation.
Ariana got up, left the room, and answered the door. Larry, the mailman, stood on the front step. He was old as if carrying the mail for so long had changed the way he stood.
“Hello, Ariana,” Larry said, grinning at her.
She smiled back as she said, “Hello.”
“I have a package for you here, and some letters,” he said, fishing them out of his large, dark blue mailbag. He handed her the letters first, and then a small box wrapped in brown paper.
“Now that’s for you,” Larry said.
“Thanks,” Ariana replied, getting ready to close the door.
Larry grinned, saying, “Ariana, the package is for you. Not your mom. You.”
Surprised, she looked down at it and saw her name and address.
And it was all written in her father’s handwriting.
“Oh, boy!” Ariana shouted. “Thanks!”
“You’re welcome,” Larry said, and he waved as he climbed down the stairs.
Ariana hurriedly closed the door, locked it, and ran into the kitchen with the mail. She dropped the letters on the counter, and when her mom saw the package, she raised an eyebrow.
Ariana mouthed the word, Dad, and her mother brightened. She nodded and continued on with the conversation, which had something to do with a problem at Aunt Suzy’s job.
Ignoring her homework and her mother, Ariana sat down and tore open the package. Inside was a small, beautiful compact mirror. It was silver, with a deer head carved into it. There was also a letter.
Ariana unfolded the paper, her hands trembling with excitement, and she read the neat, block-letter words of her father.
My Dearest Ariana,
I trust you are well, and that you have recuperated from the unfortunate fall in the playground. I have sent you a small compact, designed and crafted for you in mind, it would seem. I want you to understand that this is not a toy and that it is important, much like the items I collect. And, in fact, it comes from my own collection.
One day you will understand the significance of this piece of finery, and you will be able to use it if such a need exists. I hope that I am not speaking in circles, and I am trusting that my smart little girl knows what I speak of.
I hope that you will never need it for anything, but should it happen that you do, remember what I told you; call me, Ariana, and I will come. Do you understand?
I trust that you do.
You have all of my love, and I ask that you share it with your mother. I will be back home, with you, in seventeen days.
Mark them on the calendar, and save all of your school work for me. I will save some of my own work, and we will go to the range again and perhaps move up to a heavier weapon, yes?
Your loving Father
Ariana read the letter several times before she tucked it into the pocket of her dress. Then she picked up the compact and examined it, the metal cool as she turned it over in her hands.
Her mother continued to talk with Aunt Suzy, so Ariana set the compact down on the table, picked up her pencil, and worked on her homework again.
She needed a good grade so her father would be proud.
It was only another seventeen days until he would be home.
Humming, Ariana worked on her spelling and tried not to think of going to the range to learn how to use a new weapon.
* * *
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Waiting for an Opportunity
Chapter 2: A Debilitating Lack of Sleep
Chapter 3: Fox Cat Hollow, Pennsylvania
Chapter 4: A Bothersome Name
Chapter 5: At the Holiday Inn
Chapter 6: An Opportunity Occurs
Chapter 7: In New Orleans
Chapter 8: Not Forgotten
Chapter 9: Disheartening News
Chapter 10: Borrowing a Pen
Chapter 11: Daylight is Sometimes Best
Chapter 12: The Run for Life
Chapter 13: The First
Chapter 14: Slipping Away
Chapter 15: The Third Day
Chapter 16: Just Plain Wrong
Chapter 17: Away and to Safety
Chapter 18: Reflections of the Past
Chapter 19: In Lambtown Cemetery
Chapter 20: 40 Minutes Away
Chapter 21: Searching for the Provenance
Chapter 22: Attempting to Hide
Chapter 23: A House Guest
Chapter 24: Exhausted and Desperate
Chapter 25: The Pen
Chapter 26: Renting Space
Chapter 27: Found
Chapter 28: Loose Ends and Broken Bodies
Chapter 29: Chopping Fire Wood
Chapter 30: Round the Clock
Chapter 31: Noises in the Night
Chapter 32: Conversations with the Dead
Chapter 33: Surprised in the Evening
Chapter 34: By Omission
Chapter 35: A Gut Instinct
Chapter 36: Another Curiosity
Chapter 37: Message Received
Chapter 38: A Change of Pace
Chapter 39: A Two-Hour Ride
Chapter 40: Moran and Moran
Chapter 41: A Congenial Discussion
Chapter 42: A Distant Memory
Chapter 43: Disgusted
Chapter 44: A Growing Bitterness
Chapter 45: An Introduction
Chapter 46: Cleaning House
Chapter 47: Company
Chapter 48: A Second Attempt
Chapter 49: Information
Chapter 50: Antipathy
Chapter 51: Paternal Blessings
Chapter 52: A Thief
Chapter 53: A Burial
Bonus Scene Chapter 1: Quality Time
Bonus Scene Chapter 2: An Important Conversation
Bonus Scene Chapter 3: The House
Bonus Scene Chapter 4: At Home and With Her Father
Bonus Scene Chapter 5: A Package Arrives
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