The Little Voice

"M.L.! This is the last time I am going to say this! Get up! You're going to be late for work!" Nelly was standing at the foot of the bed, grabbing my legs just like my mom used to do back when I was a kid.

I was pretending to be asleep because it brought memories of when Mom used to do this to us. It was hard not to hear Nelly walking up the stairs and down the long hallway to my room.

Nelly and I lived in Mom's old house.

That creaked.

That squeaked.

That whispered.

Sometimes I would think it was actually telling me things. Of course, I couldn't make out anything. It was big enough to give us space from each other but small enough that we were always nearby.

My sister Nelly chose the bedroom downstairs closest to the front door and visible to the back door. She was older than me and felt responsible to take care of me.

I was old enough to take care of myself I would tell her but she being 20yrs older than me, said I wasn't old enough to live alone. I was going to be 18 in 6 months. I think that was old enough. At least that is what I tell myself.

I chose the bedroom upstairs down the long hallway that was past the staircase. I always found it fascinating that they would build a bedroom down a long hallway all by itself.

We always said that the room must have been a balcony that they decided to close off. If you removed my bedroom, the house would still be intact. I loved my space. I had a gorgeous view. Great natural light and it was not confining to me.

I finally "wake up" and say "Nelly I'm up! I won't be late." I remove the pillow I had over my head and turn around.

Nelly stares at me with her hands on her hips and shakes her head. She realizes that once again she was tricked by her little sister. Mel had her children young so all my cousins were already married or living in the dorms.

"You better not be late. Being on time to work is important." She said as she waited until I was standing to leave the room. I grab my clothes and go to the bathroom to get ready.

As I am brushing my teeth, I heard the whispers again. Almost sounded like the sound you did when you were calling your cat.

Ps-ps-ps-ps-ps-ps-ps-ps-ps

I continue brushing as I've heard this before. This was a little louder though.

I grab my uniform hat and walk out of my bedroom. I walk down the long hallway and run down the stairs.

"Omg please don't run down the stairs. You're going to make me old before my time, M.L." Nelly says as I shrug my shoulders apologetically.

I sit at the dining table where she had made me breakfast. Nelly was the only mom I knew. Our mom died when I was a baby.

Nelly had raised me and my cousins with the help of my uncle until he got called to serve again. He had been gone 4yrs.

Nelly has been waiting for the day that he returns because sending care packages and videos isn't enough sometimes. I missed him also.

I eat my eggs, bacon, and bagel and kiss Nelly goodbye. "Thank you for breakfast. I'll see you later." She looks at me and says "Um I'm taking you to work. I don't trust the outside world."

I smiled because I knew she would say that. She grabbed her car keys and we headed out the door. She made sure all the locks were in place.

We arrive at the golden arches and I get out of the car. "See you later Nelly. Thanks for the ride." Nelly nods her head and says, "I'll be here before your shift ends." I know you will.

I am just about to grab my bag when I see Nelly sitting in the car out front. She really cares for me. I wouldn't know what to do without her.

I turn off all the lights and lock the doors. I hand Nelly her favorite drink. "You always know what I like. Thank you." She tells me as she kisses me on the cheek. We arrive home and we decide to eat the leftovers I brought home.

A few hours later around 9 pm, Nelly comes knocking at my door. "M.L.? Are you up?" It's 9 pm. Why would I be asleep? I yell out "Of course, I'm up Nelly. Come in." The door opens and she comes in. She takes a seat at the edge of my bed as I close my laptop.

"I was going out for a few. I was going to ask Sally from next door to come over, but since you're going to be 18 in about a week, I didn't." She paused and then said "Will you be ok if I go? I should be back at midnight at the latest." Nelly says as she looks at me.

Nelly has never gone out at 9 pm ever since I can remember. I was curious to know where she was going to go. "Where are you going? I've never seen you leave this late before. Are you alright?" I ask her genuinely concerned now.

She sighs and looks at me as though she was wondering whether she could tell me. "Your uncle and I broke up a few months ago." She looked down as she said it.

"You broke up?? Why?" I asked her as I tried to remember why this could have happened. I didn't remember anything from the past few months.

"We thought it was the right thing to do. He's in the military. He was supposed to be back at the end of this year but it doesn't look like that will happen. So we said we would come back to each other if it felt right again. You understand?" She said as she touched my arm.

I understood. I think. I just thought they would always stay together. "So what does that have to do with you leaving at 9 pm?" I say and then I realize. "You have a date! Nelly!" I gasp as Nelly starts to giggle.

"Yes, I have a date. I know it is a little late but I have my spray can if anything." Nell said as she showed me her danger protector spray as I liked to call it.

"Good. There are too many weirdos out there." I tell her as she says "So you'll be ok here? Alone? Or do you want me to call Sally to come over? I told her already that I would be going out. She said she would keep a watch" Nell said as she put the spray back into her purse.

I thought about Sally coming over but she didn't have to. I had her information so if anything did happen I could just call or walk over. She literally lived next door.

"Nah it's ok. I can call her if I need to." I say as Nelly smiles. Sally was a retired cop and she was always looking out for us. I was glad that she was around.

"Ok then. Well, let me go so I can come back quickly. Love you" Nelly said already sabotaging the outcome of her evening.

"Ok love you," I tell her as I go to close the outside door behind her.

I go back to my room and play a comedy movie on my computer. As I am laughing, I hear the pspspsps sound again. I pause my movie and call out. "Hello?" I yell out thinking Nelly had come home early.

Silence. I listen for a few minutes. Silence.

I go back to my movie. After a few minutes, I hear my name being whispered, "M.L." Afraid I look around my room as I close my laptop.

I slowly look around the corners of my bed thinking someone broke in and was hiding there.

I didn't see anyone.

I didn't want to move from my bed.

I picked up my blanket to my chin as I stared around my room.

Come on M.L. nothing is there. You're fine!

After a few minutes of silence goes by. I lower the blanket and play the movie again. I am laughing and snorting at the movie and had completely forgotten about what had happened earlier.

"M.L.! RUN! RUN!"

I scream as I hear the voice really loud in my ear. Eyes wide, heart beating I look around and jump off the bed. I grab my shoes and open the door.

"Nelly?? Are you here?!" I yell as I look at the inside of my bedroom.

I did not want to go back in there.

I started to frantically turn on all the lights and walked down the long hallway towards the staircase.

Every light switch I found.

ON.

Every lamp.

ON.

I even turned the oven light. I didn't want to call Sally nor did I want to bother Nell.

After what seemed like ages, I calm down as silence filled the air.

I debated whether going upstairs would be a good idea. With my phone in my hand, I walk toward the living room. I can watch the TV from there.

As I entered the living room and was about to sit down, "M.L.!! RUN! RUN! RUN!"

I screamed again this time feeling a hand grab me and push me towards the door.

My phone screen lit up and when I looked at it, I had a text message from an unknown number that said "RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN!"

I nervously called Sally, then Nell, then 911, and ran out the house.

I ran towards Sally's house which was a few feet in front of our house. She was already standing in her front yard, with her weapon drawn up.

"Where are they??" Sally said as she saw my frightened look.

"I don't know. I couldn't see her." I tell her as we stare at the house.

"What do you mean you couldn't see her?" Sally said as she lowered her weapon.

"My mom," I say as we see Nelly drive up toward us. The voice sounded just like my mom from the recordings that Nelly would play for me.

How could my mom be telling me to run?

Why would she tell me to run?

"Are you ok?? What happened? I came as quickly as I could." Nelly said as she started to hug me, a worried look on her face.

"She said she couldn't see your mom," Sally said as she stared at the house.

"My mom? What do you mean my mom?" Nelly says as she stares at us staring at the house.

"She told me to run," I tell her only glancing at her for a second and then looking at the house again.

"She told you to run?" Nelly says confused as she stares at the house also.

As the police cars started to drive up, the entire back of the house, including my bedroom, went up in flames, and pieces of debris started to fly everywhere.

Sally, Nelly, and I stood there not moving, not talking, staring at the house.

The policemen came over to us and started talking to us as we stared.

Their voices started to drown away as I saw what looked like a younger version of my mom, breezily walk out the front door.

She smiled as she whispered to me "I love you M.L."