Broken Read Online Free PDF

way.
    James continued to kiss his wife, and I began to get a little
worried I’d be watching them take it to the next step.
I’d go back through the door if that happened. He pulled
back and Joan caught her breath.
    “Where’s my little girl?” he asked.
“Does she know yet?”
    “She’s a baby, James. She won’t know
anything.” Joan pointed down the hall. “She’s in
her crib.”
    James left his briefcase at the door and hurried through the
house. I followed.
    The walls were a different color than what I remembered, and the
furniture was much simpler.
    James darted through the hall and rounded the corner into my old
room.
    “Where’s my little Katy girl?” he called.
    There was a cooing sound. That had to be me.
    I rushed after him, curious to see what nine-month-old me looked
like.
    The man I knew to be my father scooped me up from the crib and
twirled me around. “How’s my little Katy girl?”
he said.
    The blob in his hands didn’t answer. She giggled and
smiled and grabbed his face.
    “Guess who’s going to have a little brother or
sister?” he said, making sounds that only a baby can
induce.
    Joan entered the room while James danced with the little version
of me in his arms. He offered me to her, but the doorbell rang. She
left the room to get it.
    James continued dancing around the room, kissing my nine-month-old head and cheeks.
    I remembered that of my mother, she never touched me unless she
needed to. She had never fawned over me like she had Geoffrey.
    Tears slid down my cheeks as I realized someone had loved me
after all. I didn’t think a ghost could cry. I wiped my
tears.
    I watched and admired my father as he played with me before
putting me back into my pen. Then he flipped the switch on the
Winnie-the-Pooh mobile over my crib.
    The characters remained lifeless and still.
    “That’s funny,” he said. “That was
working this morning.”
    He looked behind the crib.
    “There it is. It’s unplugged.” He pinched my
little cheeks, then knelt down to plug it in.
    I waited for it to turn on, but nothing happened.
    I looked down at my father. His one hand was still holding the
plug. It was inserted into the wall yet the mobile was lifeless.
Then it occurred to me what was happening. There was only the
slightest hint of a twitch to him and something smelled like it was
burning.
    Oh my god!
    I wanted nothing more than to help him. At the same time, I
couldn’t watch. Where was Joan? I ran through the house
searching for her, hoping there was some way I could get her
attention. I looked everywhere and found her, finally, at the front
door. There was a rather pushy golden-haired saleswoman peddling
beauty products at the door. I tried to find a way to let Joan know
what was happening. I tried to grab her, but my hands slipped
through her. I tried to knock things over, but the effect was the
same.
    Then I noticed the golden-haired woman. She was looking right at
me. There was a smile in her eyes, like she knew what was
happening. I gasped.
    I sailed back to the room where my father was. The little
version of me was now screaming. James had collapsed to the floor,
his hand still on the plug.
    Joan had told me once that my father had died of a weak heart.
She’d never mentioned he’d been electrocuted.
    I put my hands to my face, crying, not knowing what to do. I
couldn’t bear to watch this any longer.
    My hand brushed an earring and a thought struck me. I
immediately unhooked them.
    Everything went black once more.
     
    I was now facing the mirror in my apartment again, earrings in
hand.
    I looked at my skin and clothes. I wasn’t glowing, and my
skin was now its usual pale complexion. And I was solid.
    “Oh my god,” I said. “I’m not
dead.”
    What kind of screwball trip was that?
    I braced myself against the wall. I had just witnessed my
father’s death, or what I’d imagined was my father’s
death.
    “I’m falling apart,” I muttered.
    My mind was suddenly laden with a