Dolly smiled to herself.
She rested her chin in her hand and stared down into the watery eyes glimmering back at her. The eyes were open wide in surprise. In the background a bird sang a cheerful song that Dolly lifted an ear to listen to. She liked the pretty noise.
Feathers ruffled and the bird flew over her head out of the tree Dolly was perched under. Dolly was left, once again, in silence. The eyes blinked in and out of her vision as the sun reflected off the lake water. The sun was sinking slowly back behind the trees on the far side of the lake, and she knew her father would be home soon. She hoped he would be home soon enough to take dinner out of the oven before it burned – Dolly wasn’t allowed to touch the oven or the stove. Her father was worried she would burn herself. Father always protected Dolly and Dolly intended to do the same for father.
He had always been a smart, loving man, and Dolly was glad for him. She had never known her mother who had died giving birth to her – and Dolly’s twin had also died shortly after. Dolly used to wonder what it would be like to still have a sister, but thought now that she was glad she was alone. She didn’t like having to share her father.
He had almost ruined everything for them. A few months ago, he had helped Dolly get dressed up for a movie, and he had even bought her a pretty lip gloss and a bow for her hair. Dolly was so excited, she loved movies and she loved when her father helped her dress up to look like the picture of her mother that she had by her bed. He wanted to treat her by taking her to dinner and a movie, and he had told her he had a surprise for her.
Dolly sighed and shifted her chin to her other hand, remembering that night. The eyes she watched were growing dimmer and dimmer and dark strands twisted around in the water as the water grew darker.
When they had arrived at her favorite restaurant, they ordered her favorite appetizer and he even let her have a milkshake for her drink. Then a lady had arrived and Dolly tried to order her meal from her, but her father and laughed and corrected her. “No baby, this is a very special woman I want you to meet.” Dolly was horrified. Her father explained that he had met this lady at work and he wanted her to become a part of their life. Someday, if Dolly approved, she might even be Dolly’s new mommy.
Dolly hated her.
Dolly thought of the lady as the stray cat that used to come to their back door for food. For a while her father had fed it every night and Dolly didn’t mind watching it prowl around their yard. But one morning, when he was supposed to be waking Dolly up for school, he was late. Dolly had laid in bed for an extra ten minutes waiting for him to wake her up like he always did. Eventually, crankily, Dolly crawled out of bed and went to find her father. He was outside feeding the kitty milk and petting her soft little head. When he saw Dolly, he said “Look baby doll, our kitty trusts me now! We might get her inside now.” Dolly had sulked about it. The kitty had ruined their routine. So, a few weeks later Dolly mixed some of her father’s anti-freeze with the kitty’s milk while her father was in the shower.
The kitty never came back. Her father spent a few hours over the next week calling for the kitty with milk and little pieces of chicken, be she never came back. Dolly found her body next to the lake a few days later, so she threw it in the water and watched it sink out of sight.
Ever since she met her father’s “special woman” she imagined her pretty face sinking away in the murky water. Real life was different than her imagination. She thought the woman would sink out of sight, but instead her hands were still floating just beneath the surface of the water and her face could still be seen even though it had sunk deeper than her arms. Dolly thought maybe she just need to wait a little longer for the bubbles to escape from her clothes and then she wouldn’t be able to float anymore. The woman stayed where she was though, eyes wide and hair floating in a halo, just deep enough to not break the surface of the water but shallow enough to still be seen. As the sun sank lower it became harder and harder to make out the details of her face and her jewelry.
Dolly caught sight of the ring her father had given the woman just then, and she wanted it. Dolly didn’t want the woman to have any jewelry from her father. She stood up and walked to the waters edge and stepped into the water. The water came up to the girl’s waist as she reached for the arm. It was slippery and cold and the ring was stuck on the stupid woman’s swollen fingers. She tugged and tugged at the finger until the ring finally, thankfully, slid off and into Dolly’s hand. Dolly pushed the woman farther from the shore to make her harder to see and the woman’s body sunk a little more. Dolly wished it would sink to the bottom of the middle of the lake. Maybe the fish would eat her tonight. Dolly climbed out of the water and walked up to the house. She would dress up in the same dress she wore when she met the stupid lady to celebrate.
Her daddy didn’t know it yet but they would be happier now. She wanted to wash her face and change before he came home. She hoped he would hurry. The stupid lady had made her favorite meal and it was cooking in the oven. When the timer rang it would be time to take it out or it would burn - and Dolly couldn’t do that. She wasn’t allowed. The woods around the lake and their home buzzed with bugs coming to life in the dying of the day. The warmth of the light from inside called to her and she walked briskly to the door.
She went to the bathroom to start a warm shower, the lake water was cold and grimy. The steam filled up the little room and she heard gravel in the driveway. Her father was home and could take care of dinner, wonderful. She climbed into the shower and felt the dirt and grime of the lake rinse off of her, and she watched as the blood on her hands ran down the drain.
Dolly smiled to herself.
