Chapter 1

It was a cold and rainy morning when Tina opened her eyes. She was lying in her bed, and she had been sleeping so soundly. She awoke with the same smile that she normally had every morning. She was only 3 years old, but it seemed like the world was at her feet. She had everything that a young girl could want or need.

Tina saw that it was raining outside but even though that was not an issue she loved the rain and found it fun to go outside and splash around, especially when it was a warm day. She saw that it was raining, and she knew that she was going to have to eat and then her mom was going to dress her all up in all that rain gear before she was going to be allowed to go out and play. She knew that part was going to be a drag as usual, but it was going to be worth it in the long run as long as she was going to be allowed to go outside and play. She knew that all the other children had already been out there playing and she was just now getting up.

It didn't matter how long she slept except if she got up too early then she would just be put back to bed being told it was too early for her to be up. This time it was not one of those times she had overslept but she figured that it was because it was raining that the room had stayed darker, and the light had not shown in the window.

Tina threw back the covers and put her foot on the floor. She almost let out a little yell and at first, she wanted to pull her foot back up off the floor. The floor seemed a lot colder than she was used to it being. She looked out of the window and noticed that it had been left open just a little, but it was enough to let in the cold air that seemed to hover just over the floor. She looked over at the window and wished that they had shut it tight when they had put her to bed. It was not like it was that cold, it was more of a surprise than anything.

This time when she put her foot on the floor it was not that bad, and it made her let out a little giggle as she looked down and wiggled her toes. She slipped on her bunny slippers and then started to wonder why mommy had not been in to get her up or help her get dressed like she normally did. Tina was content just to stay in her room and she got out her favorite toy and simply started playing. After an hour Tina started getting hungry and she knew that she was supposed to dress for breakfast, but usually, mommy helped her and picked out what she was supposed to put on. Tina giggled at the thought that she could pick out what she was going to be able to wear this time but getting it on was going to be a challenge since she had always had mommy there helping but she wanted to show her what a big girl she was becoming.

Tina slid off her nightie and let it fall to the floor she bent over and picked it up. Mommy had always told her to make sure to put her clothes in the hamper so they could wash them. Tina picked it up and went over to the hamper, but this was where mommy always lifted her so that she could put it in. Tina knew that she couldn't put it in by herself but if she tossed it could go in. Tina threw it into the air, but it was not even close to going into it. Tina threw it time after time until it didn't go in, but it got stuck on the top of the hamper.

Tina knew just what dress she was going to wear it was her princess dress. It was pink and so soft, and fluffy. Playing princess was her favorite game. It always made her giggle when mommy played with her and then she read her stories about the princesses. Tina was able to pull the dress over her head as mommy had shown her but without her helping pull it down now it got stuck and left her with her hands over her head and no way to see where she was. Tina started to cry and called out, "Mommy."

There was no reply, and nothing happened, so Tina started to panic. There was nothing she could do but cry and call out for help. The feelings of helplessness and panic were getting worse by the second. She started crying harder and harder and stumbling around until she tripped and fell, landing face-first on the floor. That made her start balling but no one came to her aid. Tina was in luck when she fell at least the dress came back off and she was able to see and move around freely. That didn't stop her from crying or calling out for mommy to come and help her.

Tina slowly stopped crying but found that she was getting scared. Not only was mommy nowhere to be found but now she was only in her panties and needed help with getting the dress that she wanted to be put on. When she figured out that mommy was not coming, she decided to get something else on since she was not going to be able to get the dress on without help.

Tina pulled on a T-shirt that had a picture of her favorite ducky on it then she pulled on her coveralls that she knew how to get on. Tina was so very proud of herself because she was able to get dressed by herself even though she was not in the dress that she had been wanting to put on. She looked at her feet and giggled as she wiggled her toes. She did not want to try and put on some socks, and shoes. The laces were too hard to tie, and she knew that she would be tripping on them if they were dragging on the floor. So, she slipped back on her bunny slippers she knew that mommy would be dressing her in the galoshes before she would let her go outside and play.

Now she looked at the door and it was closed tightly so she was not going to be able to simply be able to push on it and have it open, she was going to have to turn the knob to get the door to open. She usually just when out the door following mommy, but she wanted to surprise her since she was already dressed on her own and she was so happy and proud of herself for being able to do it.

Tina stood on her very tippy toes, and she was able to barely reach the knob, but she was not quite able to get it to turn so that it would open. Tina knew that if she called out that her mom would come and open the door for her, but she wanted to show mommy that she was a big girl now and could do it for herself.

She looked up at the door handle and stretched up one more time and tried to get it to turn but it didn't budge an inch. She wanted to cry out for mommy, but she knew that would ruin the surprise. So, she pulled over a stool that she had in the room and crawled up on it. It made it a lot easier to open the door because she could reach it now, but she almost fell while she was trying to get back off the stool.

Tina smiled because at least the door was open a little now, but she was not able to open it much because the stool that she was standing on was in the way of it opening. Now she could go find her mommy. Tina thought that it was a little strange that her mom had not gotten her up yet after all it had to be past time for her to get up and get dressed and have breakfast. Her belly was rumbling now more than it had been before and it was starting to hurt so she needed something to eat.

Tina slid off the stool and pulled it away from the doorway. As she walked around it and tried to push it even farther open, she bumped into the door, and it closed but not all the way. Tina blew out a sigh of relief when she saw that the door had not closed all the way and she would not have to move the stool back and try and open it again. Tina opened the door and backed up into the stool and knocked it over. It made a loud thud as it hit the floor Tina jumped at the sound and was surprised when she didn't hear her mom asking her what she was doing.

Tina thought that her mom just had to be in the kitchen cooking their breakfast and she knew that she would be so surprised when she saw her come in and be all dressed and ready to eat. Tina thought she was going to have to have her mommy show her how to get her dress on she liked that a lot better than what she had on now.

Tina looked down the hall and saw that it was dark even though it was daytime. The sun was shining brightly now, but all the doors leading to the hall were closed except for her room. The little bit of light that was making its way under the doors didn't light up the hall very much. At least her door was open all the way and the light coming through the window of her room was enough to light up the hall, but it was just enough for her to see.

Tina made her way down the hall and then down the stairs. The house was quiet, she heard nothing on or moving, and this made her feel nervous and uneasy. She didn't know why it was just what she was feeling. Now Tina really wanted to find her mommy it was becoming even more important for her to do it soon.

As she started to hurry the big bunny slippers caught and she tripped over her feet sending her crashing face-first onto the floor. Tina lit out a loud cry and then the tears started streaming down her cheeks. The weird thing that happened was that there was no mommy to pick her back up and make her feel better.

Tina got up and brushed herself off and opened the door to the kitchen. As soon as the door opened Tina let out a blood-curdling scream and froze dead in her tracks, unable to move.