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Quiet by Dale Moses Quiet By Dale A. Moses “Mommy, I’m scared!” “I know sweetheart, but mommy really needs you to be quite right now.” Sandra said in a strained and noticeably tense whisper. Emily could feel her mothers arms tighten around her chest and mid section, giving her a small sense of security, but oddly not making her feel safe. She opened her eyes from the tightly clenched state that they had been in for some time now, and blinked to get her focus back. This was in vain, as it was very dark with not even the slightest hint of light. She looked around without moving her head, but could see nothing. In the darkness, all she could hear was the accelerated breathing of her mother, and the thump thump thump of her own heartbeat in her ears. This sound was relentless, and almost deafening as she was terrified, of that there was no doubt. She strained to be quiet, and to lie still as her mother wanted her to do. Suddenly, the grip that her mother had on her tightened, as she heard her mother whisper in a horrified tone “Shhhhh… I hear them - here they come…” With the added fear in her mother’s voice, it was terrifying for a girl of only twelve. Hell, this would be horrifying for a girl of any age, but more so for this young child given the situation at hand. Emily could hear muffled voices, but was not sure from what direction, as her sense of orientation was shot in this darkness surrounding her. She was lying down, that was about all she could say for certain. Her mother was terrified, and her grip around her reflected that. Emily strained to hear what the people were saying, but could not make out anything. The voices were quiet and far away sounding. She turned her head slowly towards her mother and said in a very hushed tone “Who are we hiding from, Mommy?” “Be quite, sweetheart – we’re hiding from the bad people…” Emily was confused. “What bad people?” she asked in a trembling but very hushed tone. Her mother released her grip on the top of her torso and quietly placed her hand over Emily’s mouth. At once, Emily knew that she must keep quiet. There was a long silence, then the muffled voices again. A minute passed, and then another. The muffled voices had all fallen silent, and were then replaced by one deep voice that she did not recognize. She strained to hear what was being said, but could not. Her mother loosened her grip – not much, but a bit. The deep voice droned on with the unintelligible words, and strain as hard as she could, Emily could not make out even one word. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest, as fear and dread grew. Suddenly, the droning deep voice stopped. It was replaced by a sound that was somehow familiar. At first she didn’t know, but after a few moments she realized what it was. It was crying - muffled and distant, but it was definitely crying. Emily strained to hear, and not only could she hear crying, but it was a woman crying. Not just crying, Emily thought, but sobbing. This sent a sharp sense of dread through her as she closed her eyes tightly and nuzzled down into her mothers grip. Sensing her child’s fear, Sandra whispered ever so softly “Don’t worry sweetheart, I’m here to protect you. Those bad people will never take you away from me.” Dropping her hand from Emily’s mouth, she tightening her grip again and continued softly; “They made me take medicine, and that stopped me from seeing the truth. But I fooled them, I only pretended to take it, and that helped me to see what they were really doing. They were trying to take you away from me. Emily felt a chill come over her. The crying that she heard was becoming louder, and a sense of horrible realization swept over her. This wasn’t just a woman crying, it was her Grandma! Emily opened her eyes wide with horrified realization and pulled one arm free from her mothers grip. There were flashes of memory as she raised her hand to her throat. Although there was no pain, she could feel the long and deep gaping gash of her horribly opened neck. “Mommy,” she asked “Are we dead?” There was silence. “Yes dear. It was the only way.” A shovel full of dirt hit the coffin lids, as the sobbing continued from above. “They can never take you away from me now. Not ever.” she said as her grip tightened. “Now, be quiet…”