--This is definitely a work in progress. This is the first draft, so any and all feedback is welcomed.--



With one daughter burnt to crisp, why was she shoving another one in the closet? Stella had always had the temper of the devil. When Sara, the charcoaled daughter, was little, Stella would bruise her delicate skin with various household items, but her favorites were hangers and cooking utensils. Sara had always been the trouble maker with her witty, sarcastic remarks and fetish for ripping the heads off Barbie dolls. Stella would deal with these fallacies of Sara's through beatings followed by a day of confinement to the bathroom. Once released, Sara would conform like the rest of her siblings for a few days until her mother would creep up on her in the middle of a ritual decapitation and Sara would find herself face to face, once again, with the grimy beige tile of the bathroom floor. Sara would spend her time in the bathroom counting every one of the 357 small tiles that covered the floor, or by making toilet paper dolls named Stella, which she would feverishly rip to shreds before flushing down the toilet.

It was a Tuesday in June of 1992 that Sara had fueled Stella's fiery rage to the max. Sara had run out of Barbies to mutilate and instead turned her mutilation towards one of her mother's porcelain dolls. While Stella was gone at work, Sara hurriedly tried to bury the headless doll in the backyard, but she was too late. Stella had come home and found her daughter covered in dirt with the head of her treasure in Sara's soiled right hand. Sara's heart could have, and should have exploded as Stella bent down to grab Sara's stringy blonde hair. Stella drug Sara into the house where she hog tied her daughter's wrists and ankles together.

Stella went out and backed her car into the garage and threw Sara in the trunk of her '87 Oldsmobile and ordered Steven, her oldest son, to get into the car. A can of gas sat next to the lawn mower in the garage and Stella unhesitatingly snatched it off the floor and threw it in the back seat. Steven sat silently in the passenger seat as they drove off with Sara in the trunk. They drove for half an hour until they got to Success Lake about half an hour outside of town. Stella stopped the car and swung open her door, yelling at Steven to get out. Steven always obeyed; even at 16 he knew one angel was not enough to take out the devil. Stella went around the car to the trunk and opened it. Sara stared up wildly into her mother's eyes, pleading for mercy. She frantically made apologies that obviously came too late. All Stella yelled was 'shut up! shut up!'� Stella grabbed her daughter out of the trunk and hauled her away from the car. She threw her down on the dirt about 50 feet away from the water and went back to the Oldsmobile. Stella got the gas from the backseat and carried it over to Sara, who was screaming and pleading, as her mother opened the can and poured the liquid over her body. Once the can was empty, Stella commanded Steven to light a match and throw it at his sister. Steven took out a single tiny match with his shaking fingers and lit it. He threw it at Sara and the flames instantly roared. Stella turned and went back to the car, with Steven following closely behind. Once in the car, Stella told Steven that if he ever told anyone what had happened, he would find himself in the same place as Sara, and he knew she meant it.

Steven stared blankly out the car window as they drove home, as if his soul had left him to fly off with Sara's the instant the match left his hand. The two arrived home and Stella went on as though nothing had happened, ordering her children to finish various chores while Steven was allowed to go to his room while his two sisters and younger brother worked. No one questioned Sara's absence, but the truth was silently known. In fact, no one mentioned Sara's name for two years and being that Sara's body was burned past the point of identification, no one came looking for her.

After those two years, Steven was 18 and gone. Lily, the oldest daughter now that Sara was gone, was 14. She alone foolishly stood up to her mother. Lily revealed that they had all known the truth of Sara's disappearance since the day Steven stopped smiling. Stella told her that children have no place accusing their parents of such things. A small metal lamp stood on the end table next to Stella, which she used to beat Lily to unconsciousness with. When Lily awoke, she was being shoved into the hall closet. She tried to fight back but her hands and feet were tied, rendering them useless. Stella stuffed her child into the space and closed the door, locking it with the bolt that been bought years before so that the closet could be used for anyone who misbehaved while Sara took the bathroom. Stella warned her children that if they went to the closet they would end up in the bathroom. Two days went by and no one went to the closet. On the third day, Jenny, who was a little over a year younger than Lily, finally approached the closet. Lily pleaded with her to open the door and let her out. She told Jenny that she knew their mother was going to leave her there until she was dead. Jenny just told her that she didn't believe her and that mom would let her out soon. But Stella didn't let her out until the smell overwhelmed the house.

Stella had Justin, who had taken Steven's place as the oldest child in the house; build a box big enough for Lily's body. Stella pulled Lily out of the closet and into the box. She took Lily and the box up to the lake and pushed them out into the water.

Three months went by. Justin told Jenny that he couldn't live any more without telling someone what had happened. Jenny pleaded with him not to for fear that Stella would make him her next victim, but Justin could not stay silent like the rest of them. He snuck out while Stella was at work one day to call Steven from a payphone as they had no phone in the house. They planned to meet the next day with Jenny to go to the police and that Steven would have to let them stay with him or Stella would claim another of her victims.

The three of them met as planned. They told the police their story but their statements were not evidence enough to arrest Stella right away. The police would have to conduct an investigation first. For two weeks the remaining three siblings stayed together, hiding for fear that their mother would find them. They finally received a call that an arrest had been made and a trial was set for a month later.

The trial lasted for two months while the children sat in court and testified against their mother, finally revealing their voices. Stella was convicted and sentenced to life. Justice was served?

Want to comment on this Short Stories? Sign up to Edit Red and you will be able to comment on Short Stories and get access to: Upload your own stories and poems, get readers and their feedback, promote your work...