The Girl Death Left Behind by Lurlene McDaniel

Author:Lurlene McDaniel [McDaniel, Lurlene]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-43389-3
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 1999-10-12T04:00:00+00:00

12

Teddy—

Wow, was it ever great to hear from you. If you’re at Marcie’s sending me e-mail, what else are you doing with my best friend? (Yes, you’re still my best friend, Marcie. The only person I really like down here is Jared, but it’s not like you and me. I see him at school. He doesn’t call.)

Wish I could be up there with you-all for Thanksgiving. Aunt Camille asked me what I’d like her to cook special. As if I care what we eat. I’m still pretending like I’m visiting, and not living here. It makes it easier.

School’s a drag, everybody’s ready to bust out. And it’s still pretty warm, so it hardly seems like November. Bet you’ve already had the fireplace going, haven’t you? I remember last year and the big storm and losing power and roasting marshmallows over the fire.

The weirdest thing happened last week. I was passing a playground and I looked over and saw this little girl on the swings. Her back was to me, but she had long blond hair and she was wearing a red shirt and a red hairband. I kept watching her and all of a sudden it was like time moved backward and I heard Allison’s voice say: “Push me higher, Beth! Higher!”

And I heard myself say, “I’m tired of pushing you. Learn how to pump your legs, Allison. I can’t push you forever.”

And I kept thinking, Allison! Allison! And all of a sudden I yelled, “Allison!”

The girl on the swing stopped and turned. She looked right at me. Then she jumped off the swing and ran away. I shouted for her to stop, that I didn’t mean to scare her, but she kept going. I don’t blame her. She probably thought I was crazy. Maybe I am. But for a minute, she was Allison and I was teaching her how to pump her legs. I DID teach my sister how to swing, you know. I don’t know what got into me that day, but I hope the girl wasn’t too freaked.

I’d never tell anybody except you guys about this. Sometimes I think I see Allison or Doug in a crowd at the mall. But, of course, I don’t. It’s not real. It’s never real.

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