Sarah said so
by Cithara Patra
March 15, 2026 | Fiction | Startled, Gasp
“I don’t need the spray, Mommy. I’ll be fine!” Maddy squirmed out of my grasp as I covered her body with sunblock lotion. “Sarah said she’ll protect me. She always does.”
“I know that.” I glanced over at Maddy’s doll sitting in the corner. Her glassy blue eyes fringed with thick black lashes stared at nothing. Despite the pretty brown ringlets falling to her shoulders and the painted pink cheeks on her porcelain face, she was empty inside. Only my daughter believed Sarah was real. “Still, I don’t want you covered in bug bites. I know the spray stinks, but it’s for the best.”
“I won’t get bitten. Sarah said so.” Maddy picked Sarah up and smoothed down her blue and white dress. “She’ll get rid of the bugs.”
“I’m sure she will.” I step back as Maddy sets Sarah back in the corner. “I’m going to water the flowers, okay? You play right here.”
“Fine, Mommy.” Maddy picks up the small doll-hair brush and begins to play with Sarah’s ringlets. I grimace at Sarah’s blank stare before grabbing the watering can and heading to the front. I never liked that doll. I hated her perfect curls, red lips, and fancy little dress. Worst of all were her eyes. Sarah was always staring at something; her blue gaze locked in place. Empty eyes. God, I wish she’d stop looking at me.
Relax. It’s just your daughter’s doll. My brain reminds me. She can’t do anything. She’s not real. She_
“Ow!” I dropped the water can and ran up to where Maddy sat, rubbing her arm. “Yuck, gross!”
“What happened?” I spot the giant red mosquito bite forming on Maddy’s arm. “I told you that you needed the spray. Where else did it bite you?”
“Nowhere. I told you, Sarah protected me. She nods at Sarah, slumped in the corner with her empty gaze. “She got rid of the mosquito after it bit me. It tried biting her, but she stopped it. She slapped it.”
“I’m sure she did. Let’s get you cleaned up and put some cream on the bite. I’ll water the flowers later.” I helped Maddy stand up, though never moving my gaze from Sarah. She was not real. Her eyes couldn’t see me. She couldn’t move, let alone kill a mosquito. Yet I couldn’t ignore the dead mosquito lying in the folds of her blue and white dress.
Or that little smear of blood on her pink-painted cheek.
…Gasp… <___>