Rain Drops

A phone call.

The ring echoing down the dimly lit hall of another household in a family oriented neighborhood. The late afternoon sun filtered by the stained glass reached for the handset. The yellow school bus stopped at the same curb at its routine time. It dropped off its routine children. All the homes shared the mindset and a floor plan. Go to school, get an education, succeed. Push your children to do the same. Every few years, the houses went through a generational cleansing. The elderly moving into care and their children repainting the outsides.

Another ring.

She'd timed it out perfectly. Her afternoon shower fogged up the mirror and the room was a sauna by the time she'd undressed and opened the door. The heat hit her and gathered all along her body. Before she'd had a chance to soak her hair, an unneeded interruption. Wasn't it enough that her conservative neighbors lifted their noses at her being a single mother? She couldn't catch a break from those loquacious bastards. Was it her fault that her husband managed to work his way around the community helping out the other wives with leaky faucets and broken dryers? Now she managed to laugh at the fact that most of them hung their laundry out to dry in their always freshly cut backyards. She used to blame herself, her imperfections. Now she knew better and she knew that every time she looked at her little girl.

Another ring.

She frowned as she hit the tap and grabbed her robe. She stepped downstairs and managed to grab the phone mid-ring.

"Hello?"

Her toes gripped the new carpet. The imprint of her left foot became wet around edges from the only limb she managed to get under the warm water of her shower.

"Ms. Henderson?"

The voice seemed a little too heavy-hearted for this time of day. Somehow people around here managed to stay peppy through the day. She knew better than to watch TV past 10 PM, though.

"Yes?" she answered in a false disposition.

The sound of breathing was heard slightly in the background.

"Yes?" she repeated. The other end hung up before she managed to get out her one syllable response.

"Loon." She put the phone back down into its perfect position. The sun went behind clouds and instantly darkened the naturally-lit hallway. She turned to walk upstairs when the phone rang again.

She sighed.

Ring.

She waited for the ring to finish as if to punish the person on the other side before picking up and answering in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Yes?"

She heard a man swallow and couldn't help but smile slightly at his nervous attempt at conversation. Finally someone that felt worse than her.

"There's a problem concerning your daughter, Ms. Henderson."

Her sheepish grin went away as all the worse scenarios flew through her head. Each one become worse before she called herself to order, scoffing that anything bad could happen in this neighborhood.

"We have records stating that you make approximately thirty-four thousand a year."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"We also know that you choose to deposit 15% of your bimonthly check in a savings account."
"Who is this?"

The carpet was soaked almost all the way through and when she lifted her foot, she could feel the sponge effect of the carpet taking it all in.

It was only a few moments before she quickly put his questions together. She leaned and then fell against the wall and slid down to the floor, pulling the phone with her.

"Ms. Henderson, we expect your savings account to be empty by the end of the day, placed in a bright blue school backpack and left outside the school inside of the drained fountain before 6 A.M. tomorrow."

Blood drained from her head, leaving her forehead a cold, sweaty mess.

"I...I.."
"Don't worry, Ms. Henderson. We're confident you'll be able to comply with our given guidelines. Also, should you decide to go the 'authorities', be prepared for traumatizing news."

Tears fell slowly as they stuck to the curvature of her thin face.

"I'll understand your silence as a realization of how serious this situation. Remember, Ms. Henderson, 6 A.M. tomorrow inside of the drained fountain. What color?"

She continued to stare straight ahead at the white wall, making shapes with her mind, unable to comprehend what has just happened. This didn't happen to people like her, she kept thinking. How could the man with the nervous voice do something like this to her? Her daughter was her only hope in the world. Ever since her husband, the neighbors, her daughter was the only one that stood by her side. She didn't know how much that meant to her.

"Ms. Henderson?" The voice cracked mockingly.

And now what? This son of a bitch talking through a phone line. Another tear rolled out.

"Bright blue," she croaked sadly, breaking the silence.

"Thank you for your cooperation. Remember, no cops." He hung up like an employee from customer service: speaking softly, relieved that he didn't have to deal with an angry complaint.

The phone fell to her side. The sun peeked out from behind the clouds again, illuminating the hallway where she sat against the wall, eyes open. She looked out the window of the door to see a piece of bright sky blue glass. Bright blue. Her favorite color.