The Statue Game

1
Id been dead for four days, my body a statue of ice in a cabin buried by a blizzard.
But my five-year-old daughter, Annie, thought I was just playing a game of Statues. Starving, shed started gnawing on an expired sausage stick.
Using the last bar of battery on my phone, she dialed the only number in my contacts.
The call connected, and Lynns impatient voice barked through the speaker. "Ethan, if you're calling to make excuses or beg, don't bother."
Annie clutched the phone, the plastic wrapper still in her mouth, her words muffled by sobs.
"Mommy, Daddy's been playing Statues for three days. There are there are little black bugs on him now."
On the other end, the sharp tap of fingernails against a desk. Lynn's tone turned even more scornful. "He's stooping to disgusting lies like that just to dodge his sentence?"
"Tell him to stop playing dead, or I don't mind coming to collect his corpse myself."
Floating in the air, I desperately tried to snatch the phone away, but I could only watch helplessly as Annie poked my rigid cheek.
"But Daddy is so cold," she whimpered. "I can't wake him up."
A dead silence fell on Lynn's end, followed by the frantic wail of police sirens.
I sighed, a bitter smile on my spectral lips. The snow, it seemed, couldn't hide a body forever.
The screech of tires cut through the silence outside.
I hovered in the air, looking down at my own stiff corpse with a sense of relief.
These were the people I had contacted before I died.
Id sent them a scheduled message: if they didn't hear from me in three days, they were to come collect my body and take Annie to my father's place in the countryside.
My life had been a mess, and I hadn't left Annie with a good name. If she ended up in foster care, branded as the daughter of a traitor, the other kids would bully her to death.
The woman in the lead took off her hat as she saw me on the bed, her eyes red as she gave a crisp salute.
Annie, terrified, shrank into the corner of the bed, her small hands clutching a fistful of my shirt.
"Who are you? Don't take my daddy!"
The woman moved to pick Annie up.
Annie lunged forward and bit down hard on the back of her hand.
"You're bad people! All of you! When my mommy gets here, she'll arrest you all!"
I wanted to laugh, but I also wanted to cry.
My silly girl, your mother is the one who wants to arrest me most.
The woman didn't say a word, just gently covered my face with a white sheet.
The moment they lifted my body, the roar of another engine echoed from outside.
Several police cruisers tore through the snow, their red and blue lights flashing violently against the white landscape.
Lynn, dressed in her sharp police uniform, strode into the yard.
"Stop! Put him down!"
She marched forward, reaching to rip the white sheet away, but the lead woman blocked her path.
The two sides stood in a tense standoff, the air crackling with hostility.
When Annie saw Lynn, her face lit up as if shed seen her savior. She scrambled out from behind the woman in black and stumbled towards Lynn, hugging her leg.
"Mommy! Officer! Please save Daddy!"
"These bad people are trying to take him away!"
Lynn looked down at the child who barely reached her thigh. For a fleeting moment, a flicker of confusion crossed her face, but it was quickly replaced by disgust.
She shoved Annie away. The force was so strong that Annie fell backward, landing hard in the snow.
"Who's your mommy? Don't call me that."
I drifted over, wanting to help Annie up, but my hands passed right through her. I screamed at Lynn, "Be gentle! She's only five!"
But she couldn't hear me.
And in that moment of distraction, the group quickly loaded my stretcher into their vehicle and sped away, leaving a cloud of disturbed snow in their wake.
Furious, Lynn kicked at a nearby snowdrift.
"Ethan! What a clever trick!
"Faking your own death to escape? You'll really do anything, won't you?"
She turned and scanned the small room. The simple bed was now empty, leaving only a worn-out quilt. She felt around under the pillow and pulled out a photograph.
It was the only one we had together.
In the picture, we were in our graduation robes, our smiles wide and full of life.
Lynn stared at it, a complex emotion in her eyes that quickly soured into pure derision.
"Keeping this? Trying to play the sympathy card?"
"In your dreams."
Rip.
She tore the photo in two.
She tossed the pieces to the ground and ground them into the slush with the heel of her boot.
I watched our smiling faces get trampled into the snow and felt my heart clench as if caught in a vise. That photo had been the one thing that got me through the last five years.
Lynn paced the room one last time. Convinced there were no other clues, she turned to leave.
Annie was still sitting in the snow, crying, her little hands red from the cold.
Lynn looked down at her.
"Stop crying."
"Your father doesn't want you. He left with those people."
"He abandoned you. You were just a burden to him."
Annie sobbed, her big eyes filled with confusion.
"Daddy didn't run away Daddy's sleeping"
"Shut up!"
Lynn grabbed the back of Annie's collar and lifted her like a stray kitten, shoving her into the back of the police car.
"Since he doesn't want you, you're coming with me."
"Let's see just how long he can stay hidden when I have you in my grasp."
The car door slammed shut.
I spun in a panic, forcing myself to drift into the car and stay close to my daughter.
2
The car sped back to Lynn's home.
The moment the door opened, a wave of warm air washed over us. Annie's frozen little body finally shivered, and she let out a huge sneeze.
Lynn tossed her onto the sofa, then walked to the liquor cabinet and poured herself half a glass of whiskey.
"Alright, talk. Where did your father go?"
Annie huddled in the corner, looking at her with timid eyes.
"Daddy was taken by bad people"
"Still lying!"
Annie flinched, fresh tears welling up in her big eyes.
"I'm not lying Daddy had bugs on him, and he wouldn't move"
Lynn let out a cold laugh, swirling the amber liquid in her glass.
"Ethan taught you that, didn't he?"
"Taught you to act pathetic, to lie, to manipulate people's sympathy?"
She stood up, glass in hand, and loomed over Annie.
"Let me tell you, that trick doesn't work on me."
"You'd better tell me the truth. Where did you agree to meet them? What's the code word?"
Annie had no idea what she was talking about. She clutched her stomach and whispered, "Ma'am, I'm hungry."
Lynn froze for a second, the disgust in her eyes deepening.
"Hungry? You have the appetite to eat? You really are his child. Heartless, both of you."
Despite her words, she got up and went to the kitchen.
I floated in the air, taking in the apartment.
Every trace of me had been scrubbed clean.
A pair of men's slippers sat by the door. Two toothbrushes were on the bathroom counter.
They belonged to Leo.
I remembered the last time I saw her, before I left. She was with him. I saw Lynn gently wipe a bit of cake from the corner of his mouth, her eyes filled with a tenderness I hadn't seen in years.
The study door was slightly ajar. I couldn't resist drifting inside.
A travel brochure for a honeymoon in the Maldives was spread open on the desk. Next to the picture of a honeymoon suite were her handwritten notes, detailing their wedding plans.
My heart soured as I looked at it all.
But I quickly pushed the feeling down.
It was for the best.
Truly.
She had a new life now. That was so much better than being in love with a dead man.
A noise came from the kitchen. Lynn emerged with a bowl of noodles. It was a simple broth with a single fried egg on top, slightly burnt around the edges.
I couldn't help but let out a soft laugh.
I was the one who taught her how to make this, years ago. She was always clumsy, never quite getting the heat right. Back then, she'd work herself to the bone, always forgetting to eat. I was worried she wouldn't be able to take care of herself when I was gone. So I spent a week patiently teaching her a few simple, quick meals.
This noodle soup was one of them.
Lynn placed the bowl on the coffee table with a thud.
"Eat."
Annie was starving. She grabbed the chopsticks and began to devour the noodles, not even caring that they were hot. Lynn sat across from her, watching, her expression unreadable.
After two large bowls, Annie wiped her mouth and gave Lynn a tentative, eager smile.
"Thank you, ma'am."
"This is really yummy."
"It tastes like my daddy's."
The hand swirling the whiskey glass stopped mid-air. For a second, I saw a flash of shock in Lynn's eyes. But she quickly composed herself, a sarcastic smirk playing on her lips.
"Hah. So, over there, he actually found the time to cook such common food himself?"
Annie nodded earnestly, her eyes clear as crystal.
"He does! Daddy makes the best noodles!"
"Even though even though we often didn't have money for eggs."
"But Daddy would always give me the only egg we had, just like you did."
Lynn's face darkened. She slammed her glass on the table, the dark red liquid sloshing violently.
"That's enough. He abandoned you. Why are you still remembering what he tastes like?"
Just then, the lock on the front door clicked.
3
Leo walked in, briefcase in hand. The smile on his face froze when he saw Annie.
"Lynn who's this?"
Lynn didn't even look up. "Ethan's. He abandoned her and ran off."
Leo visibly relaxed, then looked at her with confusion. "This child you don't recognize her?"
A knife twisted in my heart.
It wasn't that she didn't recognize her. She had forgotten. Five years ago, she'd been in a car crash trying to protect Annie. When she woke up from her severe injuries, her mind, as a defense mechanism against the trauma, sealed away all memories of our daughter.
Shock and pity flashed in Leo's eyes. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but all that came out was a sigh. He changed into his slippers and walked over to Annie, crouching down.
"Hey there, little one. What's your name?"
Annie shrank back, a little wary.
"My name is Annie."
"Annie" Leo repeated the name, his eyes turning red. "That's a beautiful name."
He reached out to pat her head.
But Annie turned away.
"Mister, I want my daddy."
Leo's hand froze in mid-air. He awkwardly pulled it back and stood up, looking at Lynn's back with a gentle voice.
"Lynn, since the child is here, let's just take care of her for now."
"After all it's not her fault."
Lynn snorted but said nothing.
And so, Annie stayed.
That evening, Annie timidly tugged on Lynn's sleeve.
"I miss Daddy. Can we play Statues?"
Lynn was flipping through a case file, not even bothering to look up.
"I don't have time."
The light in my daughter's eyes dimmed. She wrung her small hands.
"It's the game Daddy played with me the most He would always make me be a statue in my room while he talked with guests outside for a long time."
She hugged her knees, her voice muffled and sad.
"I know Daddy didn't want them to know about me. He didn't want a burden like me."
"He he didn't really like me. He didn't want his friends to meet me."
"So I have to be extra good, to make him like me a little more."
As she spoke, tears rolled down her cheeks.
I floated in the air, my heart shattering.
I had always thought she was so obedient, so easy to care for. I never knew that beneath that quiet compliance lay so much fear and insecurity. I thought hiding her in her room was the best way to protect her. I never imagined it would become the darkest shadow of her childhood.
I reached out, my hand passing through her face again and again. "Annie, Daddy loves you more than anything. Daddy didn't mean it"
Leo couldn't stand it anymore. He walked over and gently pulled her into his arms, comforting her softly.
"Don't cry, don't cry. Your daddy must have had his reasons."
Lynn looked at Leo, her gaze softening.
"You're still so soft-hearted. After everything Ethan did to you, you're still willing to comfort his daughter."
Leo just held the child, looking up at Lynn with a complicated expression.
After hearing the child's cries, Lynn's brow furrowed. She was silent for a long time before finally speaking to the child in Leo's arms.
"Your father he's not a good person."
"The people he associated with weren't good people either."
"He probably kept you away from them to protect you."
Annie's eyes instantly lit up. But just as quickly, she struggled out of Leo's arms, stood before Lynn, and loudly retorted.
"Daddy is a good person!"
"Sometimes he would put black stuff on his face and wear weird clothes, but he never did anything bad!"
"And sometimes he would cry late at night, looking at your picture!"
Lynn was stunned.
"My picture?"
Annie pulled a small, crumpled piece of paper from a pocket sewn into her clothes.
It was a clipping from a newspaper. It showed Lynn in her police uniform, receiving an award. The image was blurry, but Annie had preserved it carefully, sealing it with clear tape.
"Daddy said Mommy is a superhero, that she catches bad guys."
"Daddy said that when he finished playing his last game, he would bring me to find Mommy."
Annie held up the small clipping as if it were an article of faith.
"Ma'am, are you really my mommy?"
"If you are, why do you say bad things about Daddy?"
Lynn's pupils contracted violently. Her hand trembled as she reached for the clipping. Just as her fingertips were about to touch it, she snatched her hand back.
"Enough!"
"Stop the act!"
"To clean up his own name, Ethan even taught you this brainwashing routine?"
"He really went to great lengths!"
She strode to the door, grabbed her coat, and stormed out.
The newspaper clipping fluttered from Annie's hand to the floor.
She stared blankly at the door, the light in her eyes fading, bit by bit.
"Mommy doesn't want me either?"
I knelt on the floor, my arms wrapping around the ghost of her small body.
And I wept until my soul ached.
4
The next morning, before the sun was up, Lynn returned, bringing a chill with her.
She had clearly been out all night, her eyes were bloodshot.
"Get up. We're leaving."
She roughly pulled the still-sleeping Annie from the bed.
Leo, not yet dressed, heard the commotion and hurried out.
"So early? The child hasn't even had breakfast."
"She won't starve."
Lynn dragged Annie towards the door. Annie didn't even have time to put her shoes on properly; one heel was crushed under her foot. She didn't dare cry, just clenched her small fists.
My heart ached for her. I spun in a frantic circle, wanting to lunge at Lynn and push her away, but I passed through her solid form time and time again.
"Lynn, what are you doing?! Let her put her shoes on right!"
I screamed until I was hoarse, uselessly trying to fix Annie's shoe, my hand passing through her tiny ankle. Seeing her stumble as she was dragged away felt like a knife twisting in my chest.
On the road, Lynn drove like a maniac.
Five hours later, the car screeched to a halt in front of an old, rundown apartment building.
This was where I grew up.
Where my father lived.
To make him believe I had truly gone bad, I had stood in front of all our neighbors, called him a useless old man, and smashed everything in our home. My father had collapsed on the spot. When he woke up, he disowned me.
All these years, he believed I was out there committing heinous crimes.
Lynn hauled Annie up the stairs and banged on the door.
After a long while, the door opened a crack, revealing my father's old, weary face. He was stunned to see Lynn, but his expression quickly turned to ice.
"If you're here for that ungrateful son of mine, you've come to the wrong place."
"As far as I'm concerned, I never had that beast for a son."
Lynn pushed Annie forward.
"This is his child."
"He ran off. The child is yours now."
My father looked down at the scrawny little girl in front of him. His eyes filled with immediate disgust.
"I won't accept the bastard child of that animal!"
He started to slam the door shut.
Lynn braced her hand against it.
"Sir, you're her grandfather. If you don't take her, who will?"
My father's hand was shaking. After a moment's hesitation, he looked closely at Annie's face, a face so much like my own, and tears suddenly streamed down his cheeks.
I remember my father as a man who could hold up the sky. After my mother died, he raised me alone, never shedding a tear no matter how hard life got.
But now, looking at my child, he was sobbing like a helpless boy.
I wanted so badly to rush over and hug him. But my hands could only pass through his shoulders, stooped from years of hard labor.
Dad, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry
"What a sin"
"What a terrible sin!"
"That damn kid if he wanted to ruin his own life, fine, but to bring a child into the world to suffer with him!"
His words were harsh, but he let go of the doorknob.
"Come in."
"But I'm telling you now, I can't guarantee I can provide for her. I don't have much of a pension, and I have my own medical bills."
Lynn took a card from her wallet and threw it on the shoe cabinet.
"There's ten thousand dollars on here."
"It should cover her expenses for a few years."
With that, she turned to leave, as if staying a second longer would contaminate her.
Just as she turned, a steady set of footsteps echoed from the stairwell.
A middle-aged woman in a gray trench coat appeared at the top of the stairs. She was carrying a black briefcase, her expression solemn.
The moment she saw Annie, her eyes reddened.
She strode forward, knelt down, and touched Annie's head with a trembling hand.
"The resemblance it's uncanny."
"This must be Ethan's child, isn't she?"
Lynn's face was cold. "Director Evans, this child is a mess left behind by that fugitive, Ethan."
"I wouldn't touch her, you might catch something."
Director Evans shot to her feet, her eyes suddenly sharp as daggers.
"Lynn, you will be silent."
She snapped, cutting Lynn off. Then, she took an envelope and a deep red velvet box from her briefcase.
She held them out to my father with both hands, her voice heavy with respect.
"Sir, I am so sorry. I'm late."

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