Elvis
Title - Elvis
Prompt - Abby Stevenson
Author - joykilldrama
Word count - 656
Rating - PG
Summary - Abby loved three things: Watching the news, Elvis, and her father.
Link to table - http://babysitters100.livejournal.com/2546.html
Author's note - Bored at work. Beware, this is kind of sad.
Abby had always loved watching the news. She loved seeing the horrors that were going on in the world around her, knowing that she was untouchable from the outside world. She was protected through the love of her family. She had her mother, kind and funny and always willing to listen to any problems she or her sister had. She had her twin sister, a built in best friend though they had many differences. She had her father.
Abby Stevenson was a complete Daddy’s girl. She and her father would listen to Elvis every night, singing along off-key. Her father would take her to contests where there were Elvis impersonators. He had promised to one day take her to Graceland. It was just going to be Abby and her father. Her mother and Anna, they would do something else that day. They liked Elvis, but they weren’t obsessed the way that Abby and her father were.
Abby watched the news every night, but she was untouched by all of it. Until the day she saw the car accident in the traffic report. One dead. One male dead. She felt the sense of dread build in her stomach. The car was on the Jersey turnpike, the road her father took home every day from work. What if he wasn’t okay? Even if he was okay, the news had touched her. There was some other person out there who didn’t have someone coming home. Her heart was breaking for them.
She turned off the news. She turned off the news and went upstairs to listen to Elvis. She sang along to Blue Suede Shoes, trying to convince herself that her father was okay. She practiced her Elvis dance and considered doing an entire show for her father that evening, just to show how grateful she was that he’d come home to her. That it hadn’t been his blue car that wrecked on the Jersey Turnpike.
She didn’t notice how late it was. She was too busy dancing to Elvis and perfecting his hip movements. Anna had come in to watch her briefly. She spent so much time laughing at her mirror image for her gyrating hips that eventually Abby kicked her out. She worked on her homework to the sounds of Heartbreak Hotel. Her stomach growled to the tune of Love Me Tender.
Then her mother returned home and called both of the girls down. It was unusual for her to return first. Normally, their father got off work first. Maybe he had something else to do that evening, some reason for delay. When Abby looked at her mother, she felt the familiar sense of dread build in her stomach. She wanted to go back upstairs and listen to Elvis and wait for their father to come home.
But their mother spoke.
He wasn’t coming home.
The car accident she’d seen on the Jersey Turnpike, the blue car barely visible by the overhead chopper, that had been her father. They would never go to Graceland together. She would never get to show her father the dance she’d been perfecting all afternoon. He had left her. She could never be Daddy’s little girl again.
She didn’t cry. Instead she walked to her bedroom and turned off the Elvis music. It was just too painful.
She didn’t listen to Elvis again until she was thirteen and living in Stoneybrook. Three years had passed and her friends were going on a road trip across the country. When asked where she wanted to go, she replied Graceland. She listened to Blue Suede Shoes the night before they all left. She remembered the dance she’d made up to show her father and performed it to the photo on the desk.
When they arrived at Graceland, she walked around with a picture of her father in her wallet. He may not have come home to her, but she could still visit Graceland with him.
Prompt - Abby Stevenson
Author - joykilldrama
Word count - 656
Rating - PG
Summary - Abby loved three things: Watching the news, Elvis, and her father.
Link to table - http://babysitters100.livejournal.com/2546.html
Author's note - Bored at work. Beware, this is kind of sad.
Abby had always loved watching the news. She loved seeing the horrors that were going on in the world around her, knowing that she was untouchable from the outside world. She was protected through the love of her family. She had her mother, kind and funny and always willing to listen to any problems she or her sister had. She had her twin sister, a built in best friend though they had many differences. She had her father.
Abby Stevenson was a complete Daddy’s girl. She and her father would listen to Elvis every night, singing along off-key. Her father would take her to contests where there were Elvis impersonators. He had promised to one day take her to Graceland. It was just going to be Abby and her father. Her mother and Anna, they would do something else that day. They liked Elvis, but they weren’t obsessed the way that Abby and her father were.
Abby watched the news every night, but she was untouched by all of it. Until the day she saw the car accident in the traffic report. One dead. One male dead. She felt the sense of dread build in her stomach. The car was on the Jersey turnpike, the road her father took home every day from work. What if he wasn’t okay? Even if he was okay, the news had touched her. There was some other person out there who didn’t have someone coming home. Her heart was breaking for them.
She turned off the news. She turned off the news and went upstairs to listen to Elvis. She sang along to Blue Suede Shoes, trying to convince herself that her father was okay. She practiced her Elvis dance and considered doing an entire show for her father that evening, just to show how grateful she was that he’d come home to her. That it hadn’t been his blue car that wrecked on the Jersey Turnpike.
She didn’t notice how late it was. She was too busy dancing to Elvis and perfecting his hip movements. Anna had come in to watch her briefly. She spent so much time laughing at her mirror image for her gyrating hips that eventually Abby kicked her out. She worked on her homework to the sounds of Heartbreak Hotel. Her stomach growled to the tune of Love Me Tender.
Then her mother returned home and called both of the girls down. It was unusual for her to return first. Normally, their father got off work first. Maybe he had something else to do that evening, some reason for delay. When Abby looked at her mother, she felt the familiar sense of dread build in her stomach. She wanted to go back upstairs and listen to Elvis and wait for their father to come home.
But their mother spoke.
He wasn’t coming home.
The car accident she’d seen on the Jersey Turnpike, the blue car barely visible by the overhead chopper, that had been her father. They would never go to Graceland together. She would never get to show her father the dance she’d been perfecting all afternoon. He had left her. She could never be Daddy’s little girl again.
She didn’t cry. Instead she walked to her bedroom and turned off the Elvis music. It was just too painful.
She didn’t listen to Elvis again until she was thirteen and living in Stoneybrook. Three years had passed and her friends were going on a road trip across the country. When asked where she wanted to go, she replied Graceland. She listened to Blue Suede Shoes the night before they all left. She remembered the dance she’d made up to show her father and performed it to the photo on the desk.
When they arrived at Graceland, she walked around with a picture of her father in her wallet. He may not have come home to her, but she could still visit Graceland with him.