My Daughter Was Thrilled To Hold Her Newborn Sister—Until She Whispered One Word To Me

Her cheeks appeared to be on the verge of breaking from the size of her smile. Her small hands encircled her infant sister tenderly, just as she had pictured in her mind’s eye countless times.

Lina’s bright red suspenders stood out against the yellow blanket that was tightly wrapped around the newborn, but she didn’t give a damn about appearances or color. Being the older sister made her proud.

With my heart both full and delicate, I fell back on the hospital bed, fatigued and hurting, with hormones and sutures rushing through me. Lina had been our only kid for four crazy years, and she kissed my bloated stomach every night.

With wide-eyed optimism, she would inquire every morning, “Is she arrived yet?Finally, the baby was here now. Maybe now, I reasoned, everything will be all right.

Slowly, Lina leaned in till her face nearly touched her sister’s little nose. She lowered her voice to almost a whisper, as though she were disclosing a secret that only they knew.

“I have someone to keep the secrets with now,” she remarked.
Startled, I blinked. “Secrets?”

Still beaming with joy, she nodded. “Such as the ones I keep from Dad.”

She comforted me, “It’s okay,” as she raised her large brown eyes before I could question what she meant. She also refuses to tell.

I suppressed a little laugh as a knot formed in my chest. “Well,” I remarked carelessly, “babies can’t talk yet.” However, what sort of secrets?”

She kissed her sister’s forehead, paused, and then leaped from her chair. “I am hungry,” she declared plainly. Can you give me a cookie?”

It appeared to be nothing more than a child’s naive fantasy at the time. Always imaginative, Lina made up tales about a dragon called Toffee and said that clouds served as pillows for God. However, I couldn’t get those words out of my head, and they left me with an unanswered question.

I didn’t bring it up to James that evening. I didn’t want to concern him with odd child whispers because his job was hard and I was still recovering along with Lina and the baby.

When Elsie came home two days later, Lina became the ideal big sister. While the baby slept, she brought diapers, scolded her toy giraffe for making too much noise, and sung gentle lullabies. However, the “secrets” were lost after that initial reference. Or so I believed.

The rumors didn’t start up again until a wet Tuesday two months later. I was half asleep on the couch nursing Elsie when I heard Lina talking gently while she played with her dollhouse in the living room.

“No, Daddy isn’t informed. The rule is that.

With her back to me and dolls gripped in each hand, she spoke in a forceful and steady tone.

Why are we unable to tell Daddy?I sat upright and asked.

She spun around far too fast, as though she had been caught in the act. “Nothin’! Doll-related items

You certainly have a lot of doll rules, I remarked with a laugh.

She hurried to her chamber after saying, “They must follow them.”

I told James later that night. After the girls had gone to sleep, I said, “She keeps saying not to tell you things.”

He scowled. “Like what?”

“I have no idea. “Confidentiality,” she said. Elsie must also keep them. She even instructed her dolls not to tell you today.

James chuckled. She is four years old. It most likely means something straightforward, such as “I didn’t brush my teeth” or “I had an extra cookie.”

I said, “Maybe,” but I was still uncomfortable.

After a week, when I was watering the hydrangeas nearby, I heard Lina conversing with Elsie outside on a blanket. I heard her say this while feigning to care for the plants:

“Remember, we say the monster only appears when Daddy isn’t home if he asks.”

My heart froze.

I approached. “What monster, Lina?”

She was taken aback, as if I had caught her in a game. “Pretend. for our game.

“You mentioned that it only occurs when Daddy isn’t around.”

Yes, those were the days when we were heroes. We oppose it.

I tried to remain composed as I sat next to her. How does the creature appear?”

She gave a shrug. “Tall. Dark. Not a face. It occasionally raps on windows. hides in the kitchen sometimes.

I made an effort to grin. “You have a very vivid imagination.”

As she caressed her sister’s stomach, she whispered, “Elsie sees it too.”

I didn’t get much sleep that night. I repeated all of Lina’s hushed words, and James worked late two evenings a week at a call center.

“Sweetheart, do you ever hear strange noises when Daddy’s gone?” I inquired softly and without pressure.When Mommy is taking a shower, what games do you and Elsie play?”

After responding with tales of flying socks or talking lights, she would occasionally stop talking or shift the topic.

I put in a motion-activated baby monitor with night vision in the hallway. James made fun of me for being so cautious.

Perhaps I was.

However, I noticed something on the monitor three nights later.

It was approximately 11 p.m. I kept an eye on Lina on the television till she settled down since she was agitated. All the doors were closed, and the hallway was dark. Out of nowhere, Lina showed up outside our bedroom door, dressed in her nightgown.

She didn’t knock. For about ten minutes, she stood there, not moving.

Then she walked back to her room after turning around.

I asked her if she had experienced a nightmare the following morning.

“Nope,” she answered while munching on cereal.

Did you spend last night in our room?”

“No, I remained in my bed.”

However, I knew what I had witnessed.

I looked through her room that night in an attempt to get control. There was a folded piece of paper beneath her pillow.

It was clearly marked by the clumsy crayon lines she had drawn on it.

The person behind what appeared to be our kitchen table was tall, black, and faceless.

Two small figures, one wearing yellow and the other in red suspenders, were standing next to it.

The words “Don’t let him take her” are scribbled faintly underneath.

My blood froze.

James went pale when I showed him. “This is a serious matter.”

She ends the game. However, she created it herself.

“We need to speak with a professional,” he remarked. a psychologist for children. She may be experiencing tension or anxiety.

We made an appointment for the next week after I gave my consent.

However, we never succeeded.

Because Lina vanished three days later.

The time was Sunday morning. We had observed Lina dancing joyfully with her plush duck fifteen minutes prior, while James changed Elsie’s diaper and I prepared breakfast.

Then there was stillness.

No noise, no sign, no footsteps.

We looked in every closet, every room, and every nook and cranny. The garden gate is securely closed, and doors are locked.

We were overcome with panic.

They phoned the cops. Drones and dogs scouted the neighborhood.

Nothing.

James unlocked our garden shed four hours later, right as the search crews started taking it apart, and there she was.

seated on the ground, holding Elsie close.

We were unaware that Elsie had accompanied her out of the room.

Tears were streaming down my face as my legs buckled.

With a look of relief on his face, James hurried inside with both girls.

I sat next to Lina on her bed when she had calmed down.

“Why, dear?I asked quietly. “What made you pick Elsie up? What made you hide?”

Her little face darkened. “If I didn’t hide her, the monster said he would take her.”

My hands were shaking.

“Has anyone entered the house?I muttered.

“No. Doors are not necessary for him.

I was unsure about what to believe.

Lina was seen by a psychologist for two hours that week.

“She is very intelligent and creative, but she exhibits signs of anxiety, possibly trauma,” he informed us.

“Shock?James inquired. “From what?”

The therapist took a moment. Was she frightened by anyone? Did you hurt her? Does anyone have family nearby?”

We gave a headshake.

She feels obligated to defend her sister, which is why she is obsessed with this “monster.” For a youngster her age, it’s a significant burden.

James and I didn’t sleep that night.

Lina and I went out for ice cream by ourselves the following day. We laughed while we sat in the park.

“Sweetheart, this monster… does he look like anyone you know?” I said as she finished her cone.”

After a long moment, she remarked, “He smells like Daddy,” looking down.

I blinked, startled.

She clarified, “He doesn’t look like Daddy.” But occasionally, he sounds just like him. similar to when Daddy slams the door or yells at the TV.

I gasped. Have you ever been afraid of Daddy?”

She gave a nod. “Just when you’re not around.”

I addressed James that evening.

He sobbed and revealed everything.

He began drinking during my pregnancy, only a beer or two, but enough to get out of control while I was away or sleeping.

He acknowledged that when Lina spilled something, he had yelled at her and even grabbed her wrist too firmly.

He sobbed, “She never told me.” “I didn’t believe she recalled.”

However, she did. She recalled everything.

She transformed him into a monster in her terrified, bewildered thoughts.

That evening, James departed.

He started therapy. Lina began going to therapy.

The healing process was gradual but constant over several months.

Lina stopped painting faceless monsters and muttering secrets.

She chuckled once more.

James receives supervised visitation every Saturday. He has six months of sobriety.

“I don’t need to keep secrets anymore,” Lina murmured to me as I tucked her in one evening.

My heart simultaneously shattered and recovered.

The creatures under the bed aren’t always there. They exist in the individuals we care about.

Individuals are subject to change. Children also require secret-free households.

Please share this story if it moved you. A child’s whispered words could be the words of someone lurking behind them.