Instead of heaven and hell, when you die, you find yourself in a room with a six year old girl who invites you to join her tea party. It dawns on you, you’re her imaginary friend.
“Sit!” she beams, patting a small plastic stool around her table, the other chairs filled by stuffed animals. My mouth moves to speak, but nothing comes out. She beams up at me and I sigh, sitting awkwardly in the chair.
“My name is Princess Maegan.” She says, flicking curls over her shoulder. “This is Mr Fuzz.” She gestures to a stuffed bear on the chair to her right. It had brown fur with a green plaid bowtie and black glass orbs for eyes. “And Lady Pearls.” A purple hippo plush with a pearl necklace to her left.
I sat straight across from Maegan, taking her in her features. Light skin and blonde hair with green eyes. She wore a pink, poufy, princess dress with an exaggerated plastic crown and wand.
“My name is Adelaide,” I reply.
“Would you like some tea?” Maegan offers a plastic teapot to me. I nod and she pours imaginary tea into my plastic teacup. “Cream and sugar?” I nod again and she pours fake cream into the cup and sprinkles fake sugar into the cup. Maegan does the same for Mr Fuzz and Lady Pearls.
“I’m so happy you could all make my tea party especially in the absence of Sarah. Momma says she went on holidays but I don’t know why I’m not allowed to join her.” I blink. “Oh. Sarah is my twin sister. Momma and Papa said she’d be gone for a while, so they took her bed out of our room.”
Oh…
Oh.
“Sweetie.” A woman, a mirror image of Maegan if she was older, stepped into the room. She looked tired and had a swollen stomach. “Who are you talking to?”
“Adelaide!” Maegan replies. “She’s my new friend. Say ‘hi’ Momma.” Maegan’s mom’s eyes trail over to my chair, but the look she gives me is transparent like she couldn’t see me.
“Hello, Adelaide.” She turned back to Maegan. “Are you telling her about Sarah?”
“Yeah! I hope she’s having fun on her holiday.” Maegan’s mother hesitates, then sighs through her nose.
“Can I join you?”
Maegan smiled brightly and nods. Her mother sits on her knees on the floor between Maegan and Lady Pearls.
“Are we having tea?”
“Mhm!” Maegan says, pouring her mother a cup. “Momma. When is Sarah coming home?” Maegan asks. Her mother bit her lip and searches Maegan’s face for any sort of knowing or understanding of the situation. Maegan seemed genuinely curious.
“She… she won’t be coming back, Maegan.” Her mother says softly, a tear falling down her face. “She’s gone.” Maegan blinked, not understanding.
“What?”
“Hey.” Maegan and her mother didn’t seem to hear that. But I did. I turned to look at the person reflected in the glass of the back door. “Tell Maegan I said hi.” She says. I didn’t need to know who she was. I nodded as she faded out of focus and I turned back.
Maegan was crying now, she still didn’t seem to understand, it was just a reaction to her mother crying and hugging her close. “My baby’s gone.” Her mother cried. “She’s in a batter place now, I’m sure. But…” she sobbed into Maegan’s curls.
“Sarah says hi,” I say softly. “And that she loves you, even if she can’t be here with you anymore.” That seemed to officially set Maegan off, sobbing into her mother’s shirt.
“I miss her Momma.” Maegan cried.
“I know, baby. I know. I miss her too.” Her mother replied, tugging her fingers through Maegan’s hair.
I simply watch and drink my tea.
(This got a lot darker than I was planning my apologies)
