by Alistair Marquise

Created on: August 12, 2010   Last Updated: April 30, 2011

The bedroom was dark and completely silent except for the sound of the gerbil, Mr. Whiskers, drinking from his water bottle.  Lily had finally gone down for a nap, and Jeane crept quietly from the room, taking care to avoid the toys that were scattered about so as not to wake her daughter.

"God, if she'll just sleep for twenty minutes..." Jeane thought.

Jeane let out an exhausted sigh.  Lily had been a handful today, and even though it was only early afternoon, all of the running around had already made Jeane quite tired.  There was nothing she could do about it though.  There was no school that would have Lily as a student, no family members who understood her condition.  Jeane was the only one who could take care of Lily, but that left precious little time for anything else.

"Twenty minutes.  All I need is twenty minutes to myself."

Jeane opened the front door and stepped into the sunshine.  She walked out to the street and pulled the letters from the mailbox, sorting through them until she came across a bill from Bendis Hospital.

"You can send all you want."  She said under her breath.  "I still can't pay it."

Jeane walked back into the house and tossed the mail onto the kitchen counter, except for the bill, which she threw in the garbage.  She sighed again, a little frustrated, but as she did, there came a strange squeaking noise from the bedroom.

Fearful of what she would find, Jeane hurried to the room, her brain spinning, her hopes weak.

Lily stood there, her hands sticky and red with blood.  Mr. Whiskers lay at her feet, his body crushed and twisted, squeaking out the remainder of his life.

"It was Mr. Spook!  He told me to do it!  He made me do it!"  Lily cried.

Jeane went to her daughter and hugged her tightly.

At seven years old, Lily was the youngest person in America to ever be diagnosed with schizophrenia.  Her doctors believed that she hallucinated nearly every hour of the day.  Jeane was no stranger to the character of Mr. Spook.

"I know honey,"  Jeane said as she choked back her tears.  "It's not your fault."

Learn more about this author, Alistair Marquise.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.