My short story*

The Little Blue Dress


I parked my 1927 Ford by Central Park like I do every day at 4 o’ clock. It didn’t take long for her to arrive, she was wearing a short light blue dress with a white collar. It was just like the one Grandmother loved for me to wear as a child. I loved all the dresses that Grandmother gave me to wear but the blue one was special. The girl’s golden hair was in perfectly styled pigtails accented with two little white bows. Her name was Ruth Allen Cravens, she was walking alongside her mother hand in hand. Whenever I saw Ruth, I saw no one else. As I watched them, it seemed as though Ruth had forgotten her ball in the car and her mom ran to go get it. That was my chance, a chance that might never have come again. I quickly emerged from my car and walked to her side. Her eyes met mine, "Hello Ruth, how are you?" I said.
"Uh, hi. I’m fine thank you."At that moment, I knew I had to have her. I rapidly ran through things in my head to reply with.
After a short pause, I came up with "I just talked to your mother and she said she had to run a few errands and that it would be alright for me to take you home."
 "My mommy said not to go anywhere with anyone I don’t know," she said with a blank expression.
 "Well, I just talked to her and if you don’t go with me you might be here by yourself for a long time," I conveyed. Ruth looked around the park, as if she was trying to imagine what it would be like at night.
"Well.. Okay," she answered. She followed me out of the park and I took her hand across the street. "119 Lafayette Street," she said suddenly as we stepped into the vehicle. "Excuse me?" I responded.
"That’s my address, that’s where you have to take me." Ruth declared.
"Oh...Yes, of course." I muttered.
 "Oh okay, well thank you for the ride," she said with a slight grin.
I smiled back, "It’s no problem my dear, trust me." I locked the car doors before we pulled out of the parking lot, there was no way I would let anyone take her away from me then. I lived on White Plains Road, which is in the exact opposite direction from Lafayette Street, it wasn’t long before she noticed that I was not taking her home. "Uh.. you’re supposed to turn that way to get to my house," Ruth said frantically.
"I know sweetheart."
She began to whimper, "Then where are we going?"
"My house is just ten minutes from here, we can have tea and play; I have a lot of nice toys, Ruth" I uttered, trying to calm her.
"But you said you would take me home to my mommy!" Tears began to pour down her cheeks.
"I know, and I will.. Later," I said calmly.
"But you said now! Take me home now!" At that moment I lost all control and slapped her across the cheek.
"..I’m so sorry Ruthie, I don’t know what came over me." She didn’t respond, she simply turned away when I tried to comfort her. We sat in silence for the rest of the drive, I didn’t know what to say. When we pulled up to my house I walked over to the passenger side to have a quick word with Ruth. "I apologize for my behavior Ruth, it was completely unacceptable, could you ever forgive me?" She was staring at the ground, but she eventually nodded. "All right then, let’s go inside," I smiled as I took her hand and lead her to the porch. Ruth murmured something I couldn’t quite understand, "Excuse me dear?" "I’m hungry," she said a little louder.
"Oh! Yes, yes of course," I proclaimed. "What would you like, my sweet Ruthie?"
"A ham sandwich would be nice, one like mommy makes.." I heard her voice begin to tremble as her eyes welled up with tears again.
"I can’t promise it will be just like her’s," I said. "But I know you’ll love it just as much, try and forget about Mommy for a little bit. Can you do that for me?" She slowly nodded. "Okay. Now how about we go find those toys I was telling you about. Hmm?"
"Okay," she said wiping the tears from her eyes. I took her to the back of the house where the stairs to the attic were.
"This way Ruth," I said as I signaled her to follow me. The attic was dusty and dimly lit. Realizing I had not been up there in ages, I remembered how long it had been since I had brought a little girl home. The last one was too loud so she just had to go away. Ruthie meant the world to me, I thought nothing could ever tear us apart. I pulled a toy box out from the back corner, secretly hiding the worn, brown trunk behind it.
"Look Ruthie! Dozens of baby dolls, and stuffed animals for you to enjoy!"
"They’re nice," she said with hesitation.
"What’s wrong sweetheart?" I began to worry.
"I just.. want my mommy!" she shouted.
"You’re never going to see your mommy again! Get that through your head!" As soon as she heard that she bolted down the stairs to the kitchen in an attempt to escape. It didn’t take long for me to catch up with her considering I am a thirty-seven year old and she was only four. When she came in reach, I pulled her back by the collar and firmly grasped her. "Ruth Allen Cravens, don’t you ever do that again!" I said sternly. Kicking and fighting with all her might she managed to break free for another split second until I caught up with her again. Her screams were terrible enough to shatter glass. I reached for a small towel on the counter and wrapped it around her mouth to soften her screams. "Now Ruthie, I have an idea. How about we play dress up? It would be lovely," I said with a persuading grin, "I’ll remove the towel from your mouth if you promise to hush." She nodded. "Okay then, back to the attic," I whispered as I lead her back up the stairs. This time I pushed aside the toy box and reached for the worn, brown trunk hidden behind it.
As I fidgeted with the lock, Ruth asked, "What’s in there?"
"Dresses for you to wear, of course," I said eagerly. I took out a small red dress with a pink bow on the back, the same one that one of the girls Grandmother had brought home had worn.
"Here, put this on and come down stairs when you are finished."
"All right," she muttered. After about a minute or two I heard her little feet come down the stairs.
"Oh, Ruthie. You look beautiful," I said thinking of how jealous Grandmother would have been to see what a beautiful girl I had brought home.
"Thank you..." She responded, staring down at the ground again. All of the sudden, Ruth turned around to push me and sprinted to the door. Stunned for a second, it took me a while to regain my balance, but as soon as I did I headed after her. She reached the front door but struggled with the lock and couldn’t open it in time.
"Why can you not just be quiet?!" I shouted, "None of Grandmother’s little girls gave her this much trouble! I just don’t understand this!" My emotions had started to control my actions, I started to shake her grasping her around the neck, "Why can’t you just be a good little girl and stay with me forever?!" I saw her face as it turned different shades of blue and purple but I couldn’t control myself I was just so angry. I stopped when her eyes started to roll back in her head. She was just too noisy, I told myself, this had to be done. I stared at her motionless body as I realized what I had just done, again. I lifted her up and carried her to the backyard. The roses in my garden had grown beautifully ever since I brought home my first girl. I grabbed a shovel from behind the shed and began to dig. It only took me about fifteen minutes to dig a hole big enough that time. I placed her tiny body deep in the grave and began to fill it back up. When I was finally finished, I scurried back inside to tidy up. I just hated for things to be out of place, it was just something I couldn’t stand. There hadn’t been much to clean downstairs so I went back up to the attic. When I got to the back of the room I came across Ruthie’s little blue dress she had changed out of. "What a shame, it could have been so nice with her," I said as I folded it up and placed it in the old brown trunk. Just then the doorbell rang, I opened the door to the mailman standing on my front porch.
"Hello, are you Mr. Randall Mason?"
"Yes of course I am," I replied.