Innocent As Porcelain Skin



       The day was dreary and gray. Trees blew away their
leaves and the wind carried and swirled them around
the park. The gravel crunched under Anny’s feet and
the shiny plastic slide was calling her name. She
walked up the wooden stairs slowly and carefully
reaching each leg as high it could go to get onto the
next step. She used her arms to pull herself up
towards the sky. The light between the crevices of the
structure poured over Anny and her hair flapped in the
wind.  Standing on top of the structure and gazing
down at what she accomplished, Anny became excited for
the adrenaline rush she was going to feel going down
her favorite slide. No one except a little girl
playing with her dolls in the sand below was there to
watch her. She saw no signs of her mom. Her mom had
been sitting right there besides the water fountain.
She looked around frantically. A strong hand gripped
her around the waste and the other smothered her
mouth. She yelled but, only the sounds of the swings
swaying back and forth and the soft sounds of the city
answered her. The little girl with the dolls had
already disappeared and Anny was left alone to play
with the man with the firm hands.

       Mrs. Tedford stood over the stove smelling the salty
sweet aroma of tomatoes and garlic. The red sauce
simmered and bubbled under the warmth of the flame and
the air was thick with steam coming from the pot of
boiling water. She heard Jane’s muffled voice as she
played with her dolls. The new blue and white doll
house that was given to her by her uncle sat on the
wood floor and Jane sat cross legged in front of it.
She was creating a conversation between two small
plastic dolls that she held in each hand. Jane was
only five, but had a curious wit about her.
1.
       “ Come play wif me, Amy.” said the brown haired,
pearl skin doll.
       “ I don’t wana.” said the dark haired doll.
       “ Amy! Come here. Amy!” said another dark haired
doll.
       “ I don’t play wif people like you.” said the dark
haired doll.
       “ I said come here, now!” said the brown haired doll.
       Jane was flapping her dolls around and moving each
one when it was there turn to talk.
       Mrs. Tedford wiped her hands on her flower print
apron and bent over to pick up Jane from the tile
floor.
       “ Come on, Janey, time for dinner” Mrs. Tedford said
with a sigh as she picked up Jane.              Jane was a little
reluctant to leave her story she had made up about her
dolls, but she dropped them anyway and wrapped her
arms around her mom’s neck. The dolls made a stifled
noise as they hit the floor and bounced a few inches
off to the left. The familiar scent of her mom
embraced Jane and she leaned her head in her mom’s
sweet smelling, long brown hair.

       The door banged open at the house on Mills Street and
Mr. Tedford came in, soaking wet and holding an
umbrella. He stuffed it into the stand by the door and
quickly took off his coat.
       “ How are my girls?” he said as he walked into the
kitchen.
       “ Hi Papi!” shouted Jane from her booster seat.
       “ Hey Honey. It’s almost seven, what happened?” said
Mrs. Tedford as she served him a plate.
       “ It’s freaken pouring out there-”
       “ Language.” retorted Mrs. Tedford as her eyes darted
to Jane.
       Jane didn’t seem like she even heard anything and was
happily slurping spaghetti from
her plate.
2.
       “ I don’t know when it’s been so stormy. It took me
an extra half hour to get over to the freeway. Anyway,
how was your day?” said Mr. Tedford.
       “ Baby Amy got lost!” Jane said suddenly with wide
bright eyes and smiling face that had red tomato sauce
splashed across it. She waited for him to respond as
he looked up from his plate at Mrs. Tedford with his
eyebrow raised.
       “ She played with her new doll house and dolls today”
Mrs. Tedford said.
       “ Oh” said Mr. Tedford as he continued eating.
       “ There was a man” continued Jane.
       “ And what did the man say, Janey?” asked Mr.
Tedford, emphasizing the “R” sound in Arthur.
       “ I can’t tell you” Jane chanted and went back to
playing with her spaghetti.
       “ Oh ok” said Mr. Tedford said with a smile, once
again confused about Jane’s random outbursts.
       “ She’s been making up stories all day” said Mrs.
Tedford.

       Sounds of rain hitting the sliding glass door echoed
Mrs. Tedford. The pitter patter made a lyrical sound
that intoxicated the atmosphere. The clink of the
forks on the ceramic plates joined in the chorus of
soft background noises. Everyone seemed at ease except
for Jane who couldn’t stop muttering to herself about
Amy and her baby. Her dolls still lay on the floor and
she was struggling to get them back. As Mr. Tedford
cleared the table and let down Jane from her booster
seat, Mrs. Tedford went into the living room and
turned on the television.
       “ Today’s top story. The kidnapping of Anny McGrey
has left detectives mystified and a family in
shambles. Anny McGrey has been missing for five days
now and no trace of her
existence has been found. Specialists say...”
3.
       The evening news blared in front of the Mrs. Tedford.
Mr. Tedford joined her in the room and they sat on the
couch sipping tea and listening to the reporter. They
had a fire going in their fire place, which was the
only light in the room, besides the glow of the
television. Jane meandered into the room with her doll
that she was holding by the hair. Her eyes mirrored
the flames in the stone fireplace and her mouth was
agape. She stalked behind the couch holding her two
dolls above the back of the couch and started to put
on a puppet show.
       “ Come play wif me”, said the brown hair, pearl skin
doll.
       “ No!” said the dark haired doll.
       “ Come now”, said the brown hair, pearl skin doll.
       The pearl skin doll grabbed the dark haired doll.
       “ Stop. Mommy?!” said the dark haired doll.
       Jane waved around her dolls in her parents faces, but
Mr. and Mrs. Tedford had their eyes glued to the
television. Jane was getting frustrated at her parents
for ignoring her. She repeated the dialogue, getting
louder and more frustrated as Mr. and Mrs. Tedford
kept neglecting her. Her eyes became narrower and her
fists clenched tighter around her dolls legs. The fire
was slowly dimming and Jane started to recede into the
shadows behind the couch.
       “ Interviews with witnesses have not helped the
search for Anny McGrey. Detectives are getting
frustrated with the lack of any clues that could lead
to her kidnapper or murderer. Updates will come every
hour and if you have any leads to help the search for
Anny McGrey call 1-305-555-6294. She was kidnapped two
blocks from Mills Street on the eighteenth of
December. Thank you and Good-”
       The T.V. made a crackling sound when Mr. Tedford
turned it off. The room was almost pitch black and the
soft sound of the rain was left to fill the stillness.

       Jane was motionless and quiet waiting behind the
couch. Her head drooped and her hands
4.
 were smoothing out her hair that obscured her face.
Behind her hair was a scowl of annoyance. She stepped
around the shadows and appeared in front of her
parents. She tried again.
       “ Puppet show time?” she asked.
       “ What Jane? Um sure.” said Mrs. Tedford.
       “ Go ahead, Janey. Put on a puppet show for us.” said
Mr. Tedford.
       “ Once upon a time, Amy was sitting on the play
structure. Someone wanted to play wif her, but she
said no. They played on the structure, but Amy was
yelling. Then they were gone.”          Jane looked as if she
was about to burst, but terror did not let the tears
to release.
       Mr. and Mrs. Tedford couldn’t stop staring at Jane.
       “ Janey, come here. Awe baby, don’t cry.” said Mrs.
Tedford
       “ It’s just a story Janey. It was a great puppet
show.” said Mr. Tedford.
       “ No!” shouted Jane.
       Jane sprinted out of the room. She ran into her dark
room and onto her bed. She cuddled with her pillow and
the tears gleamed in the sliver of light that came
from her half open door. The rain banged on her window
and the trees brushed against the house. A dark shadow
appeared at the window. Jane’s tears blurred her
vision. She sat up and stared carefully out the window
with her wide eyes but, the figure darted away.

       “ What was that all about?” asked Mr. Tedford.
       “ Jane seems to be on edge today, I don’t know what
happened. All she did this week was go to that park
around the corner only to come back five minutes
later. She never went outside in the past couple of
days because it’s been raining cats and dogs.” said
Mrs. Tedford.
       “ Oh my god.” replied Mr. Tedford with a look of
nervousness and understanding in his
face.
5.
       Mrs. Tedford’s face turned from confusion to terror.
Her eyebrows lifted and her jaw dropped.
       “ Is it possible?” she said as she covered her mouth.
       Mr. Tedford nodded his head and they both ran to
Jane’s room. They sprinted down the long and narrow
hall. The door to Jane’s room was shut and the room
was dark. They burst into the room and turned on the
light. Jane had disappeared. The window was open and
the wind and rain were seeping into the room. Panic
thickened in the air and Mr. Tedford ran out of the
house. He shouted his daughter’s name. He leaped over
the white picket fence and cut across the neighbors
clean cut lawns. No sign of Jane was anywhere.
       Mrs. Tedford sprinted to the phone and called the
police.
       “ My daughter!” she trembled as she spoke and
couldn’t put together a clean sentence, “ She’s gone!
Kidnapped! Left!. Come quickly please!”
       She dropped the phone and desperately sprinted out in
the rain to help Mr. Tedford search for Jane.
Adrenaline pumped through their bodies and tears began
to flow. Nothing but the wind echoed their screams.
They couldn’t do anything but wait, soaking from head
to toe, for the police to show up.

       “ Two months after the kidnapping of Jane Tedford,
detectives have reached a conclusion that Jane Tedford
is presumed dead. No evidence of her existence has
shown up and specialists say that the disappearance of
Jane Tedford and Anny McGrey’s disappearance is
closely related. Informants, that wish to remain
anonymous, have told detectives that Jane Tedford may
have been a witness of Anny McGrey’s kidnapping and
may have been at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Caitlin Jacklin will report the full story at eight o’
clock tonight. Brian, back to-”
       Mr. Tedford solemnly turned off the television. He
rubbed his head and leaned it against
6.
the back of the couch and let out a long sigh. Mrs.
Tedford stood in the kitchen looking out of the
 window. The sun shone brightly through the trees in
the front yard. Mrs. Tedford’s eyes were still puffy
and red from the night her daughter was kidnapped. She
thought about her daughter and remembered Jane’s eyes
that were full of compassion, her hair that was rich
in color, her gentle nature and her tender porcelain
skin.  Mrs. Tedford rubbed her forehead and placed a
gentle hand on the dolls that Jane once cherished.