My daughter Charlie and I always had a good relationship. Her father left us when she was 7 years old shortly after we moved to the USA. I was working as a journalist for the New York Times and we were living in a two bedroom apartment in Bay Ridge.
My job meant that we were very comfortable so I could afford nice things and when Charlie’s dad left, I bought a holiday house just off of the Sacandaga Lake in Lake Pleasant NY, it wasn’t too much of a drive, it generally took just over 4 hours each way and it was a beautiful heavily wooded area, it looked like it had come straight out of a movie and it quickly became our safe space.
My daughter and I tried to visit as much as possible to get out of the busy city and even though my job often meant that we were travelling, I was able to work from home a vast majority of the time, especially because I was a single parent and I kissed my bosses asses more than I should have so they liked me quite a lot.
I had just done a pretty big story on “Qualified Immunity Protecting Police Officers” so I was quite stressed and needed to get away for a while so I Charlie and I decided we would spend a few weeks up at our Lakehouse.
-
Our road-trip there started off just as fun as usual. Charlie started sitting in the front seat when she turned 11, I really should not have let her until she was a little older but I thought it would be fine, we had done this trip quite a few times so I knew the road well.
It was a scenic drive, we cut through Albany en route to stop off and grab something to eat and headed off along towards the Silver Lake Wilderness when a bear and her cubs ran across the road.
I tried to swerve around them and lost control of the car, sending us flying off road.
The car spun and rolled down a steep, rocky cliff.
It all went black.
Some time must have passed because when I regained consciousness, it was almost nightfall. How did I survive? I thought to myself. I lifted my head from the smashed window of the driver side door, noticing the copious amounts of blood and foliage on my lap.
The front windshield was completely smashed, impaled by a thick tree branch..
“Charlie?” I said in a broken voice, holding my hand to my bleeding head.
There was no response.
I pulled my other hand up from the steering wheel and brushed it through the leaves of the tree that had positioned itself through the front of the car and I could not feel her in the seat over. My blood ran cold and my heart was beating out of my chest, tears started flooding my eyes as I start frantically blindly feeling for my daughter.
I don’t know if it was fear, adrenaline or a combination of the two but I managed to pull myself through the broken window of my car door, scraping my skin against the shards of glass that remain attached and landed on the hard dirt floor.
I pulled myself up off the ground and walk around the car and open the passenger door.
I see Charlie, her body laying forward with her head over the dashboard, resting against the deflated airbag. I reached out my hand and pulled her upright and out of the car, I laid her down on the floor and placed her head on my lap.
I wrap my fingers to her neck, her body was cold but I think I could feel a pulse.. it was very weak.
“Charlie? Charlie please.” I sobbed for a while, holding her, trying to keep her warm.
Her eyes slowly opened.
“Mum?” she whispered.
“Yes baby, it’s me. I’m here. I’m right here.” I said, relieved that my daughter was alive.
I wrapped my arms around her in embrace and pulled her up, folding my arms under her legs and placing her arm around my neck.
“Let’s go find a road or a cabin.. we can’t stay out here.” I said. We headed off on our search.
-
It seemed like we had been walking for a while, it was very dark and the leaves of the trees above shaded all moonlight from the forest floor, we were quite literally guessing where we were going and we were in a lot of pain.
“Mum, something feels wrong.” Charlie said.
“Well, probably my love. We just had a car accident, we are both in a lot of pain. I am surprised we both survived. God must be on our side…Are you okay?” I replied.
“No, not like that mum. This place is dark and scary, how are we going to get back home?”
“Well, we really can’t at the moment. We need to get to the Lakehouse if we can. We only had about half an hour left of our drive so if we are walking in the right direction and we find the road, we should make it there by morning but it might take us a while.” I said.
Charlie looked up at me, her eyes looked hollow and tired. Poor girl, I could not believe what I had done to my child.. she didn’t deserve it and I know it was an accident but fuck.. we had to get to safety and soon.
-
We had been walking for at least a few hours by now when I felt a vibration coming from my daughters back, a loud sound rang from her.
🎶SOMEBODY ONCE TOLD ME THE WORLD IS GONNA ROLL ME. I AIN’T THE SHA-🎶
..My phone? Yes yes, my daughter liked Shrek. She set my ringtone a few years ago and I never changed it, when I heard it every day it would always make me think of her.
But why did she have my phone? I didn’t give it to her..
“Charlie, where did you get this? Why didn’t you tell me that you had it?”
“Sorry Ma, I forgot.. I was playing games on it in the car.”
I knew that wasn’t true. She was using her iPad which I saw in the footwell of the car when I pulled her out. I didn’t bother arguing, I just grabbed it and looked at the screen
02:43am: *1 Missed Call from Unknown* -
I didn’t really care about the missed call, but my phone had 10% battery left! It was enough to call for help and that was all we needed.
As I typed my password into my mobile, Charlie looks at me with the most terrifying look in her face.
“Mum. Don’t do it!” she said.
“What? What the fuck do you mean DON’T. We’re in the middle of a bloody forest! It’s 2:30 in the morn-“
A sharp pain stabbed through my neck. My vision went blurry and I collapsed to the floor..
“Charlie..” I gasped, reaching out for my daughter who stood a few feet from me.
My body collapsed, I lost consciousness once again.
-
I must have not been out for too long, at least I thought.
I woke up on a dirt path, not in the same place we were before but it felt familiar.
I dragged myself over to a large rock next to me and propped myself up on it, looking around for any sign of Charlie, when I see it..
It’s my car..
How the fuck did I get back here?
I struggle to pull myself up to stand, using the large rock as support and I see her body..
Laying metres in front of the crash, mangled as though she was thrown from the vehicle when it hit the tree.. she had obviously been laying there for a while.
But that couldn’t be possible, she was just with me.
I broke down. My eyes filled with tears once again as I drag my feet through the dirt, making my way over to my daughter’s lifeless body when I hear heavy huffing sounds coming from just over my shoulder.
A cold breath blows on my neck.
Chills go down my spine.
A distorted voice, clearly mimicking what sounded like my dear Charlie.
“Mum?”