The promise

"Daddy do you promise?"

"Yes of course. I promise."

"Say it again Daddy."

"Okay. I'll say it again and I'll say it five hundred more times if you want me to, because you've got to believe me. I promise you that someday everything is going to be okay. I promise you that some day we will be a happy family with nothing to fear. No pain. No rage. Only peace and love, rainbows and laughter. Now be a good girl and go back to bed, I've got to go back to work. Sweet dreams. I'll see you tomorrow. Love you."

She held onto his words like a skilled trapeze artist, yearning for him to promise one more time as she watched his slumped shoulders walk out her bedroom door. She swam in the promise. No. He would not lie. She drank it in, as she listened to his car pull away from the curb, all the while knowing the monster lurked downstairs. No one, not daddy, not even God could protect her from the monster, except the empty promise she would soon hold between her bloody hands.

The footsteps coming up the stairs didn't break the promise, because the promise was for someday, but that was not today. No. He wouldn't lie. The doorknob turned slowly, the door opened, and the monster appeared where Daddy stood moments ago. Mother.