Princess Lost

Lemon rinds remained on the table, covered with fruit flies and a thin coating of green mold. A coffee cup, is stuck to its saucer by the dried rock like sugar crystals.

On the floor next to a broken down chair lies a yellowed newspaper bearing headlines about Florida and Gore. Beer and tequila bottles are scattered empty around the room.

In the corner on a three-legged table is a bowl filled with brackish water. On the surface float the bones of a goldfish that was left behind by its three-year-old owner.

The living room air is filled with dust motes moving to the rhythm of music unheard by human ears. Tigger, Kanga and Roo gather round a child's table awaiting the arrival of Pooh and a tea party that will never begin.

Curtains in the master bedroom move gently in a late afternoon breeze casting eerie shadows upon the walls and ceiling. Almost as if the former occupants had returned bemoaning the memories created here.

Garments are scattered about on the bed, the dressing table and clinging to old dry cleaner hangers in the closet. Empty dresser drawers bear witness to all that was left behind.

Pictures of Disney princesses adorn the walls of the other bedroom. Few toys though can be found, testimony to the absence of the child who once dreamt here.

On the bed lies a sobbing figure, curled into a ball a picture of a toddler clung to his chest. Unseeing eyes stare at the ceiling filled with tears empty of hope.

He can almost sense her here in this room but in his heart he knows she will never return. Gone are the promises of a future filled with tomorrows.

No wedding gowns. No grandchildren.

One choice made, it was the wrong choice. His mind lost in the grasp of an alcoholic haze he never saw her playing behind his car.

Now his wife was gone, his job was gone. All he had left was a tear soaked picture of his own Disney princess.