the aftermath of charlie dandelion

This is a short story that I wrote for a school assessment and I got 85% on it which I was incredibly happy with! (In Australia, 85% and up is an A mark.) Hope you enjoy.

Charlie Dandelion is dying. He has been wrapped up in a red and green patterned blanket, as if he is some morbid Christmas present.

“The red will hide the blood!” The paramedic says.

Bystanders look at her in disgust and disbelief.

“A little boy is dying!”

“How on earth could you say such a stupid thing!”

Charlie is still. All of the memories from his short life are gone, and are replaced by everything that happened seconds before the impact.

Crossing the road. Dropping schoolbag. Waiting too long to pick it up. Truck is coming. Fear. So much fear.

Those scenes keep playing over and over and over in Charlie’s dying mind.

He wants his mother. His sister. He starts to silently sob.

The last tear falls, and Charlie Dandelion is blown away.

Eliza Dandelion is notified of the sudden death of her son while she is at work. She grasps onto her desk and stares at Charlie’s photo by her computer. She is shaking.

Eliza walks out of her office in a quivering haze. Heads turn as she walks.

Eliza’s boss Catherine Bouvier follows her, with a sharp click of a high heel marking each step she takes.

“Eliza, where are you going? It’s not five o’clock yet! You still have papers to write for me-”

Eliza turns around and looks at Catherine with a sweet smile.

“I have just been notified that my 7-year-old son has been mowed down by a f*****g truck. Now if you will kindly excuse me, I will be taking the next few days off to grieve with my family. Thank you.”

Eliza walks out of the office building with rage in her eyes and grief weighing heavy on her heart.

“Could Charlotte Dandelion please come to the front office?”

Charlotte is ushered out of her classroom with pairs of eyes watching her every move.

She gets to the front office and sees her mother.

“Mum? Is everything okay?”

Eliza turns around and Charlotte is taken aback by the sheer numbness that is plastered across her face.

“Let’s get you home.”

The walk to the car is filled with silence. Charlotte notices that her mother is wiping away tears.

Mother and daughter sit silently in an Alfa Romeo. Eliza looks deflated.

“Mum? What’s wrong?”

Eliza looks at her daughter sadly. She knew that in a few moments, Charlotte’s life will come crumbling to her feet.

“Charlotte, I know you aren’t a baby anymore, so I’m going to tell you straight.”

Eliza inhales deeply.

“Your brother died about 20 minutes ago. He was the victim of a hit and run.”

Charlotte feels a dull ache form in the pit of her stomach. Her baby brother. Jesus, have mercy!

Charlotte cries silently. Her mother drives.

“Dear Lord. Please forgive me for my sins. Please forgive me for my sins. Please forgive me for my sins…”

Michael Dandelion is kneeling in front of a crucifix at his church. He is interrupted by the click-clack of high heels on the marble floor and the feeling of cold fingers grazing his collarbone.

He is met with the hazelnut eyes of Catherine Bouvier, who gives him a sad smile and a kiss.

“What’s with the long face, my darling?”

Catherine looks confused.

“Haven’t you heard? About Charlie?”

“No. What’s wrong?”

“He’s dead. He was killed by a truck. Eliza told me at work today. She seemed pretty damn upset.”

Michael freezes. Catherine strokes his shoulder and leans in for another kiss. Michael pulls back and shakes his head.

“Catherine, I’m sorry, but this can’t go on.”

“What? Why?!”

“One of God’s Ten Commandments is ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ Hebrews 13:4 states that: ‘Marriage should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.’ If I am to be a devout follower of Jesus Christ, I must stay true to His word. ”

Michael looks around the brown-panelled church and sighs deeply.

“I have sinned by having this affair with you, Catherine. I must repent. God must have killed Charlie as punishment for my adultery.”

Catherine is lost for words.

“I am sorry, my dear. We must keep our relationship strictly professional from now on. Goodbye.”

Michael walks out of the church, leaving Catherine disheartened in front of the Virgin Mary.

The Dandelion home looks like something pulled straight out of a David Lynch movie; white picket fence, red roses in the front yard, situated at the end of the cul-de-sac of Cherry Lane. The cherry red Alfa Romeo is parked at the front of the house. Birds are twittering. A cool breeze blows throughout the street.

All is quiet on Cherry Lane.

The solitude is shattered by the guttural cries of a mourning mother.

The echoes of Charlie’s laughter are gone from the house and replaced with a harsh silence.

Eliza cries while listening to white noise on their TV.

Charlotte sits silently in the kitchen, her eyes firmly fixed on the family’s portrait of Jesus.

Charlotte’s body is filled with anger. She takes the picture down from the wall.

“Mum, I’m getting rid of this.”

Eliza looks up, and her eyes go wide in surprise. She takes the picture from Charlotte’s hands.

“Please don’t do that Charlotte. During this time, I’m sure the Lord will be our saviour. He will look out for us. He will save us.”

Charlotte looks at her mother in disbelief.

“She’s completely lost her mind!” Charlotte thinks.

“Darling, could you please put it back up?”

Charlotte reluctantly takes the portrait of their saviour away and puts it back up on the wall.

She sticks her tongue out at it, and then goes to her room.

Eliza is eating breakfast the next morning when she is interrupted by a knock on the door.

Eliza slowly gets up from her seat and ambles over to the door. She opens it and is surprised to see her husband Michael, standing there with a sad smile on his face.

“Michael. Um… hello. I haven’t seen you in ages. Where have you been?”

“Hello, Eliza. I heard about Charlie. What a tragedy. He was a great boy.”

Eliza nods her head slowly. How on earth does he know? She definitely hasn’t told him anything.
Silence rests between the two.

“What are you doing here?”

Michael pulls out some flowers. The flowers are beautiful; a big bouquet of cherry red roses.

“I have now realised how much of Charlie’s little life that I have missed out on. Never got to see him grow up. God is unforgiving sometimes, but we can’t go against His way. ”

Eliza sighs deeply.

“He must have been off with the Church.” she thinks.

“You need to be here for your daughter! Are you coming in now?”

Michael shakes his head sadly.

“Sorry, I must be getting back to the church. I have a few things to take care of.”

Michael turns to leave, but Eliza places a cold hand on his shoulder.

“Michael, do you still love me?”

Silence rests between the two.

“Of course.”

“Why won’t you stay?”

Michael looks at the desperation etched on his wife’s face. Godlessness is swimming in her ocean eyes. He loves God. Can he love this shell of a woman as much as Him?

He goes back to his car. Eliza is numb by the white picket fence.

Charlotte is alone in the empty shell of her home. She sits quietly in front of a photo of Charlie.

All she feels is numbness. An overwhelming wave of sorrow has drowned her childhood. The dull ache in the pit of her stomach has remained dormant ever since her mother uttered those terrible words yesterday.

Charlie was seven. She is only twelve.

Her little brother is dead, her father might as well be dead, and her mother’s lost her marbles.

Is life worth living?

No, she can’t do that to her mother. She’s gone through enough already.

Charlotte looks up to the ceiling and closes her eyes. Tears fall.

“Charlie? I don’t think heaven exists anymore, but wherever you are, I hope you are safe.”

lottie is right. heaven isn’t real. god didn’t greet me at the pearly gates.

there is life after death, but not in the way that you might think.

i float around a lot. my goodness! wherever i am is very pretty!

i am surrounded by sky. big fluffy clouds are always hugging me. there is light everywhere!

the one night that i have spent here has been beautiful! it’s like space has farted the galaxy onto me, and i am just swimming in stars. so very pretty.

sometimes i see other children floating along. they always have a sad face. maybe they miss their mummy and daddy.

i miss my mummy and lottie a lot. i hardly ever saw daddy because he was always running away with the people he goes to church with.

the clouds remind me of mummy. mummy gave very warm hugs.

the light that is everywhere reminds me of lottie. she had such a lovely smile that made me feel warm inside.

i can see what happens on earth. i know that mummy and daddy have gone a little bit crazy, and lottie is lonely. poor lonely lottie.

i know that daddy doesn’t love mummy anymore.

some people might say this is heaven. sure, there are clouds and light and pretty things everywhere, but i can still see how everyone is hurting back home. it makes me sad to see my family hurt!

they might be sad now, but i know they will get better.

i remember when i cut my knee, mummy gave it a kiss and said it would be all better.

i wish she was here to kiss my head, because my head feels sad.

i guess time will kiss my head. it will get better.

it will get better.

Author's Note

please note that this was for a school assessment and we had a word limit. :)