![\"My](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/My-Daughters-Best-Friend-1.jpg?resize=640%2C356&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cHere you go Missy.\u201d Elizabeth hears her daughter say as she enters the kitchen. Brooklyn is sitting at the table, pouring milk into the empty glass in the seat beside her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho are you talking too Brook?\u201d Elizabeth asks as she approaches. She feels a shiver run up her arms, the room much colder than she remembers. She\u2019ll have to turn up the heat when she has the chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cMissy. She\u2019s my new friend.\u201d Brooklyn gives a smile too big for her face, revealing her missing tooth.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour imaginary friend?\u201d Elizabeth asks.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo silly, she\u2019s sitting right there.\u201d Brooklyn points to the seat next to her, \u201cCan\u2019t you see her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBrooklyn baby, there\u2019s nobody there,\u201d Elizabeth says lightly, though her patience is wearing thin. They\u2019ve had this talk before. Brooklyn is six, she is too old to be having imaginary friends, especially when this neighborhood is filled with other, real<\/em>, kids.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s got four arms mamma, you can\u2019t miss her,\u201d Brooklyn giggles before leaning over in her seat. Her eyes downcast and it\u2019s as if she\u2019s listening to someone tell her a secret. Brooklyn nods, \u201cMissy says you can shake her hand if you\u2019d like,\u201d Brooklyn says but when Elizabeth doesn\u2019t move, Brooklyn sticks her bottom lip out in a pout, \u201cDon\u2019t be rude mamma.\u201d<\/p>\n Elizabeth looks at Brooklyn, she doesn\u2019t know if she should entertain this idea or scold her. This has gone on too long. But looking at her daughter, those big eyes now turning glossy, she can play along just for a little while longer.<\/p>\n Elizabeth sticks out her hand and grasps air. She pretends she\u2019s grabbing someone else\u2019s hand when she feels the softest of pressure grab back and beep, beep!<\/em> Elizabeth jumps at the sound, a gasp flying out of her mouth until she realizes it\u2019s her watch.<\/p>\n Brooklyn stares at her with a worried expression and Elizabeth has too looks away from her gaze. From here she can see herself in the mirror that hung against the wall. She looks like she always does except the slight reddish flush creeping up her cheeks.<\/p>\n Looking down at her watch, she sees what time it is. She clears her throat, \u201cBrook, it\u2019s about time you head to the bus stop,\u201d<\/p>\n Brooklyn nods and gracefully slips off her chair. She grabs her stickered covered bag and slips it over her shoulders, \u201cCome on Missy we\u2019re gonna be late,\u201d<\/p>\n Elizabeth looks at the table, seeing two plates covered in crumbs and two glasses of milk, both now empty. Elizabeth\u2019s head snaps up as Brooklyn jogs past the mirror, her unruly curls bouncing with every step, her backpack too big for her small frame. Brooklyn\u2019s reflection disappears and following after her daughter in the mirror Elizabeth sees a hunched figure, with four limbs and a fur covered body and suddenly the air is sucked out of Elizabeth\u2019s lungs. Her legs are wobbling, her hands are shaking, and she is freezing with terror.<\/p>\n Missy.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n My Daughters Best Friend by Michelle Reynolds<\/p>\n \u201cHere you go Missy.\u201d Elizabeth hears her daughter say as she enters the kitchen. Brooklyn is sitting at the table, pouring milk into the empty glass in the seat beside her.<\/p>\n \u201cWho are you talking too Brook?\u201d Elizabeth asks as she approaches. She feels a shiver run up her arms, the room much colder than she remembers. She\u2019ll have to turn up the heat when she has the chance.<\/p>\n \u201cMissy. She\u2019s my new friend.\u201d Brooklyn gives a smile too big for her face, revealing her missing tooth.<\/p>\n \u201cYour imaginary friend?\u201d Elizabeth asks.<\/p>\n \u201cNo silly, she\u2019s sitting right there.\u201d Brooklyn points to the seat next to her, \u201cCan\u2019t you see her?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBrooklyn baby, there\u2019s nobody there,\u201d Elizabeth says lightly, though her patience is wearing thin. They\u2019ve had this talk before. Brooklyn is six, she is too old to be having imaginary friends, especially when this neighborhood is filled with other, real<\/em>, kids.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s got four arms mamma, you can\u2019t miss her,\u201d Brooklyn giggles before leaning over in her seat. Her eyes downcast and it\u2019s as if she\u2019s listening to someone tell her a secret. Brooklyn nods, \u201cMissy says you can shake her hand if you\u2019d like,\u201d Brooklyn says but when Elizabeth doesn\u2019t move, Brooklyn sticks her bottom lip out in a pout, \u201cDon\u2019t be rude mamma.\u201d<\/p>\n Elizabeth looks at Brooklyn, she doesn\u2019t know if she should entertain this idea or scold her. This has gone on too long. But looking at her daughter, those big eyes now turning glossy, she can play along just for a little while longer.<\/p>\n Elizabeth sticks out her hand and grasps air. She pretends she\u2019s grabbing someone else\u2019s hand when she feels the softest of pressure grab back and beep, beep!<\/em> Elizabeth jumps at the sound, a gasp flying out of her mouth until she realizes it\u2019s her watch.<\/p>\n Brooklyn stares at her with a worried expression and Elizabeth has too looks away from her gaze. From here she can see herself in the mirror that hung against the wall. She looks like she always does except the slight reddish flush creeping up her cheeks.<\/p>\n Looking down at her watch, she sees what time it is. She clears her throat, \u201cBrook, it\u2019s about time you head to the bus stop,\u201d<\/p>\n Brooklyn nods and gracefully slips off her chair. She grabs her stickered covered bag and slips it over her shoulders, \u201cCome on Missy we\u2019re gonna be late,\u201d<\/p>\n Elizabeth looks at the table, seeing two plates covered in crumbs and two glasses of milk, both now empty. Elizabeth\u2019s head snaps up as Brooklyn jogs past the mirror, her unruly curls bouncing with every step, her backpack too big for her small frame. Brooklyn\u2019s reflection disappears and following after her daughter in the mirror Elizabeth sees a hunched figure, with four limbs and a fur covered body and suddenly the air is sucked out of Elizabeth\u2019s lungs. Her legs are wobbling, her hands are shaking, and she is freezing with terror.<\/p>\n Missy.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My Daughter’s Best Friend by Michelle Reynolds \u201cHere you go Missy.\u201d Elizabeth hears her daughter say as she enters the kitchen. Brooklyn is sitting <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3594,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[425,88,379,273],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-contemporary","category-horror","category-scary-stories","category-short-short"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3593"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3596,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3593\/revisions\/3596"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}