Fireflies

Inside, the siren call slacked off, to be replaced by a single note of harmony. The small girl stood, unblinking with only the slightest hint of a smile on her face.

The fireflies came back to her, swirling and dancing, proud of the work they had done before disappearing back from where they had come.

Nellie looked down, tilting her head just so as she looked at the girl lying at her feet. The girl’s hair was a mess, it spread around her in long, matted tangles. The girl’s skin was puffy, swollen and red.

Nellie’s tiny little smile grew by a minuscule amount, nearly reaching her eyes.

“Nellie?” The little girl looked up, startled. No one was supposed to be home, but she could hear the footsteps coming closer.

A sharp flare of panic sparked in her chest.

Nellie opened her mouth and screamed.

A long, thin, high pitched wail of anguish and grief that wiped the smile off of her face.

The door slammed open.

It was her foster mother, looking concerned. Her eyes flew over the little girl in her care, the always slightly unkempt looking girl who seemed to find dirt wherever she went.

The little girl's bright eyes didn’t blink, she just kept looking at her foster mother with her unsettling stare as the piercing wail continued.

A shiver went through the older woman. She stared, looking closer. Nellie’s eyes, they were almost red.

She blinked and the spell was broken.

The little girl sobbed, flinging her small body at the only mother figure she currently had in her life. Her tiny body wracked with grief as she clung to Vicky, her tears soaking her blouse.

Vicky held the child, soothing her even though her own spirit felt a wave of suspicion. What had happened?

The little girl lying on the floor so still was barely recognizable, except for her long red hair. Her skin was a mottled red as if she’d been attacked by a swarm of angry bees, her small chest barely moving with each shallow, labored breath.

Vicky squeezed her foster daughter tight before holding her at arms’ reach.

“Baby girl, what happened?”

Nellie looked at her, a look of serenity washing her features with an innocence that made Vicky shiver again.

“I don’t know, mama Vicky. I just came in to bring her a glass of water because she said she wasn’t feeling well. She was just like that.” Nellie blinked, her big blue eyes unwavering.

Vicky stifled her thoughts, trying to refrain from looking around for the glass of water she knew she wouldn’t find.

She didn’t want to let the thoughts come, but she couldn’t help herself.

What had Nellie done this time?

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Thanks to @mariannewest for the prompt

I just did the first prompt and wrote for ten minutes.

This was to inspire my writing for the day. Nellie is the main character in a horror novel I'm starting. It's set int he 80's in a small town in the Midwest with lots of creepy thrills... I hope to publish it around the end of March!