May 2016
Anne stared at the baby shoes on the table. She had crocheted those soft, tiny shoes, using the warmest shades of baby blue and pink. She had put so much love into making those shoes and had even stitched cute little satin bows at the top.
“Anne, it’s getting late.” Anne sighed and walked out of the room. Her husband didn’t seem to show as much enthusiasm as she did.
He had seen her crochet those shoes and had shaken his head disapprovingly. Perhaps it was a bit too early to make those shoes. It was a few months before she would even give birth to her child, and another few months before her child would start walking.
“Maybe it is a bit too early,” she thought. “But there’s no harm in getting everything ready before my child comes into this world.”
Anne sat in a corner of the room, her long, messy hair falling on her feet, as she rested her head on her knees.
She heard the door open and said, without looking up, “Our daughter would look so cute in those tiny little shoes. I can just imagine her wobbling from side to side towards her Mama and Papa, with those soft shoes on her adorable little feet.”
Anne hugged her knees close to her, as a smile crept up on her face. “Eddie, you’d be such an amazing father. I know you’ll make funny faces whenever she’s crying, and then Emma will squeal with joy, and forget what she’s crying about. Oh! Emma! That’s such a lovely name! Do you think we should name her Emma?”
“Emma is a lovely name.”
“I know! You know what? After Emma’s born, we should take her to Disney World. She would love all those Disney princesses, and we can push her around in a little pink stroller, with those pink and blue shoes on her little feet.”
Suddenly, something shattered outside. Anne felt a familiar ringing in her ears.
“Anne. Anne! Remember, deep breaths,” Mr.Grey said.
Anne shut her ears with her palms and started shouting at the top of her lungs, “No! No! Please! It can’t be…”
***
May 2013
“Eddie, just look at her tiny feet. I just can’t wait for her to wear those shoes I made her,” Anne said as she looked behind, at her daughter sucking her thumb, with her legs stretched out on the car seat.
“I really don’t understand why you’re so obsessed with those shoes, Honey. Besides, Emma’s feet are still too small to fit into those shoes,” Eddie said, rolling his eyes, but smiling at the same time, as he looked at Emma through the rear mirror.
“I’m not obsessed, I just feel she’ll look adorable wearing those shoes. Won’t you, Emma?” Anne said, making funny faces at her.
“She’ll only laugh when I make funny faces,” Eddie said, smirking.
“No, that’s not true, I can… Eddie! Watch out!” Anne screamed as she suddenly saw a car speeding towards them.
***
Anne slowly opened her eyes and felt a faint ringing in her ears. She felt something on her right arm, and was startled to see a piece of glass in her upper arm, with blood dripping from it. She felt something slump on her left shoulder.
“Eddie!” she screamed. “Eddie, honey, are you…” she stopped mid-sentence as she saw a deep scar across his forehead.
“No, no, honey, no, you’re fine,” she almost whispered, her eyes welling with tears.
“Emma,” Anne said, looking at an empty car seat behind. “No, please, it can’t be,” she almost screamed. She removed her seat belt to get a better look at the back.
“No,” Anne gasped as she saw Emma lying on the floor, motionless, her head in a pool of blood…
***
“Where am I?” Anne asked as she slowly got up from a white bed and looked around her.
“You had a concussion and several scars on your right arm, so we had to treat you here in the hospital, Ma’am,” said a nurse beside her bed.
“Where’s Emma and Eddie?”
“I’m sorry, Ma’am, but they ummm, uhh, your daughter and husband did not survive the injuries,” the nurse said slowly.
“No. No. No!” Anne said with each “no” louder and more intense than the previous. Anne got up, grabbed the nurse’s arm, and screamed, “Where are my Eddie and Emma?”
Several people rushed into the room and grabbed hold of Anne. “They’re not dead! Emma and Eddie are not dead!”
***
May 2018
“Are you ready?” Mr. Grey asked.
Anne nodded her head. It would be hard, but she had to do it. She looked at the various shoes she had crocheted over the five years she had been staying at the psychiatric hospital, including the pair she had crocheted before Emma was born. She had to give away the shoes to be truly free.
“I’ve made a sign, ‘Baby shoes for sale.’ We’ll stick that sign in front of the table they’ve given us.”
“No.”
“Anne, are you okay with-”
“I think the sign should read, ‘For Sale. Baby Shoes. Never Worn.’” Anne said with a determined face.
“Okay,” Mr. Grey said, with his eyebrows slightly raised. “That sounds interesting. I’ll change it.”
Anne took a deep breath as Mr. Grey went out of the room to change the sign. Perhaps this was the start of a new beginning.
