The room was painted in soft, pale shades of pink. Curtains had been gingerly draped atop windowsills of pure white. Floorboards creaked under the weight of anyone who would enter. Not the scary kind of creaking, but more of a soft, playful creak inviting people in.

Light gleamed in through the windows casting an aura of life upon the dusty tabletops. A closet door stood open, revealing sun faded clothes that had once displayed bright colors and patterns, waiting to be worn again.

Teacups sat in perfect position amongst the dust. Sally the bear, Sunshine the frog, and Robert the dog sat around the table, awaiting the tea to be poured. They sat with an unending smile forever engraved on their faces.

Plastered forever in time.
Photos hung on the walls. Smiling faces and happy memories were portrayed among them. Pink tutus and fairy wings, cherry colored lipstick, and heels three sizes too big smiled broadly down from their hanging places on the walls.
Stuffed animals were piled in perfect positions, showcasing each one. Black, white, brown, blue, they remained peacefully unaware. Still waiting to be hugged and squeezed too tightly for any living creature to possibly survive. Their beady eyes searched for their owner. Smiling and ready to be claimed by anyone who would love them. Waiting for something to happen.

The door was painted like pink clouds. It looked like cotton candy ready to be eaten. Wide open and ready for people to come and find its hidden contents.

The soft hum of music was like a ghost in the background as he tried to force himself back into reality. Not too noticeable, but not too silent.

He looked around the silent office.

Vacancies filled the room around him like bullet holes in a target. Daring you to shoot once again. Dim lights reminded him of the time. Time had gone by so fast. Time had been lost, and answers had only just appeared.

Eleven twenty-four p.m. the clock read, but he paid no attention. Time was no longer relevant. It was a force against him.

His eyes were full of sorrow and trepidation as he looked down at the photo paper in his cold fingers and was sucked back out of reality.

The bookshelf was full of favorites. Multicolored book covers decorated the shelves with splashes of color that seemed to bring much needed life into the small room.

Dust swiveled in the stagnant air, and that on the ground had been disturbed by newly placed shoeprints. Like footprints in the sand. The pink carpet was covered in cartoon pastel butterflies that seemed as if they may jump off and fly away at any second.

She lay peacefully against the wall, staring up at the glow in the dark ceiling stars that covered the ceiling as if they were real.

Her skin was all too pale and turning blue in some areas, and an almost black, deep red painted the floor around her. Her deep brown eyes had lost their sparkle and dust had settled into her hair, which was strewn about. Her hand seemed to have been clawing at the floor like a falcon.

What had once been a school dress had been soiled and ruined forever.

The man stood up and grabbed his jacket, fleeing from the memory for now. The building seemed to be shoving him out as he grasped the switch and turned off the remaining lights that filled the room. He then stepped out into the fresh air.

Security guards waved a simple good-bye with proud understanding filling their eyes.

Headlights blurred his vision as he looked out upon the cruel world of which he reluctantly called his own. The radio cascaded him with soft, peaceful music that reminded him of her a bit.

The road seemed to stretch out forever in front of him without an end, but soon enough, his car rolled off onto a small stretch of road.

He stepped out into the chill of the winter air as it nipped at his face. The alley was dark and deserted, yet a feeling of insecurity settled in his gut.

Fog seemed to be reaching out like tendrils searching for their next victim. They surrounded him and he continued through the fog.

A dark gray was the only visible thing after a foot or two from his face.

Shadows could be seen at a closer distance, and city lights shone far off. Or were they headlights? The fog engulfed everything in its path, making vision nearly impossible.

He inched his way through the sightless beyond, wondering if this was what death felt like? Forever stumbling through a bottomless pit.

The nip of the air seemed to have turned to a bite and the fog had gotten denser, before his vision slowly and surely came back after about a mile of walking in the chill of the mid-winter frost.

The fog seemed to have slowly dissipated as he entered.

The grass was covered in dew and moss sunken under his weight.

Police sirens sounded far off, yet he didn’t care, he wandered through the maze of stone aimlessly searching for what he had lost years ago.

Ivy crawled up some stones and others had been cracked in half by time.

A force that was the most dangerous of all in itself: Time.

Time heals all wounds is what they say, but some wounds weren’t meant to heal. Weather beaten stones stuck out of the ground at odd angles as if they were daring you to fall and end the undesirable bottomless pit called life.

1816, one said.

1923, proclaimed a different one.

2001, another.

1974, said yet another, but he didn’t stop at any. He kept walking through the old maze of green, grey, and ultimately, red.

The dirt path was not well maintained and clumps of grass stuck out at odd angles. He passed large stone buildings with gargoyles guarding the doors, assuring that no one would even consider entering.

Graffiti covered the side of one, painting it in war and opposition.

Shadows surrounded him like monsters lurking their prey. Waiting and watching for their perfect opportunity to strike and leave nothing behind but bones and a memory.

The image of her clouded his mind. Her pale skin that had begun to rot, her small fingers grabbing for anything that could save her. The yellow dress that she had put on for her day at school that she had missed.

Her curly blonde hair matted with red and stuck to the wood floor. Her once bright brown eyes now dry and dull. The dust had settled on her body that lay strewn against a wall.

The walls held pictures of her smiling and told a story of her life. Her laughing and playing with a father that would forever be haunted by her death, and sitting on the kitchen counter with an older woman that was the spitting image of her.

It had been a long time since the woman had seen the girl. She’d been taken from her soon, oh so soon. Plucked away right when it was least expected.
Time could not heal this wound. Never, the woman had said, never.

She was right.

He stopped in front of one tombstone and knelt on one knee, saying a silent prayer while staring at the old fancy script engraved into it.

It was the newest stone in the maze of them. Moss had yet to form on it and ivy had been shoved out of the way for it to be put in. The earth in front of it had finally settled.

Stars shone in the sky above like the ones in the old room. So distant, yet they seemed so close. Forever allowing her to stare at them as she’d done every night as she’d lain against the wall.

1992 – 1998, the stone proclaimed in bold writing.

So young.
So little time.

Above the numbers, in delicate and somehow sorrowful writing, the stone also said on it, Jessica Jacqueline Thomson.

The name meant so little to so many, but those were the ones that had never seen what he had seen.

He put a hand on the soil in front of the stone and spoke softly, “We got him, Jess. We finally got him. It’s too late though… Sweetie, it’s too late.”

His voice came out harsh and unsteady, but he didn’t care. His hand trembled on the ground that just six feet under lay whatever was left of the case he’d been assigned to all those years ago when he was just a new officer.

The flowers he left were bright pink, just like her room. The thorns seemed to warn off those who would try to harm her again. And there she lay for eternity, six feet under the stars.

He placed the photo paper onto the soil along with the flowers and took one last glance at the room that had haunted his nightmares for years.
The room was painted in soft, pale shades of pink. Curtains had been gingerly draped over top windowsills of pure white. Floor boards creaked under the weight of anyone who would enter. Not the scary kind of creaking, but more of a soft, playful creak inviting people in.

Light gleamed in through the window sills casting an aura of life upon the dusty table tops. Closet door still open, revealing sun faded clothes that had once displayed bright colors and patterns, waiting to be worn again.

Teacups sat in perfect position amongst the dust. Sally the bear, Sunshine the frog, and Robert the dog sat around the table, awaiting the tea to be poured. They sat with an unending smile forever engraved into their faces.

Plastered forever in time.

Waiting peacefully for the girl who would never return again.