Categories > Games > Silent Hill
One good thing about having to leave Portland, Harry thought as he spread out a blanket on the grass for himself and Cheryl (Heather, he reminded himself, he couldn't allow himself to slip even within his own mind when it was her safety at stake), was that he'd never been able to take her to watch the fireworks on the Fourth of July while living in the city. The yearly display closest to where they'd lived didn't start until hours after her bedtime, and he'd never found the time to get her out to any of the earlier ones further away in the city.
So when he'd discovered that the park just a few blocks away from their new home was going to be having a fireworks show, he'd been happy to think he'd finally get to share that tradition with his daughter. She'd seemed excited too as he'd described the way lights would burst across the sky, getting the idea that it would be like a giant version of the laser-light show she'd once seen at a planetarium. He hadn't tried explaining more clearly after that; he thought the surprise would make it even more exciting for her.
"Are you ready, honey?" he whispered to her as a hush fell over the crowd.
She nodded and beamed up at him, her eyes bright even in the darkness of the night. As he did every time she smiled at him, in that moment he loved her more than he ever would have thought possible.
"Then keep looking in the sky over there," he said, pointing into the air above where the fireworks were being set up. "It's just about to start."
As she kept her eyes focused eagerly on the sky, he kept his on her, more interested in seeing her excitement when the first few fireworks went off than in watching them himself. When the first shot into the air and exploded he felt a moment of pride for making her happy when her eyes began to widen.
Then she started to scream.
For a horrifying moment he thought that the cult had somehow found her and managed to attack without his seeing--after every other insane thing that Silent Hill had produced invisible cultists would seem positively ordinary--then he realized that she was still staring at the fireworks, her face now twisted with fear.
He snatched her up in an instant, starting for his car the moment he was on his feet, not caring in the least about leaving behind the blanket they'd brought. She only quieted down the smallest bit once she was safely in his arms, stifling hers screams against his shoulder and trembling as she wrapped her arms and legs tightly around him. Harry's hand twitched for a steel pipe when he heard someone yelling to shut her up, but he wasn't going to give into the urge when his daugher was terrified.
It wasn't until he'd gotten her into the car, facing away from the fireworks and with the metal wall dampening the noise, that her cries finally died down to sobs, although she refused to let him go. "Cher-- Heather, what's wrong?" he asked, petting her hair and hugging her tightly in an attempt to do anything that might help her.
After a long moment of struggling to hold back her sobs enough to speak, Heather pulled back far enough to look at him. Her eyes were still wide and panicked as she babbled out, "Don't let them burn me, Daddy, I don't wanna be burned, please, /please/--" and then her words were swallowed up by another burst of tears and she pressed her face against his shoulder again.
He just held her close, not pressing her to talk about it again, and tried to ignore the fact that even though it was undoubtedly his daughter that he held in his arms for a moment he'd swear that he'd seen an older girl with large, dark, eyes in her place.
So when he'd discovered that the park just a few blocks away from their new home was going to be having a fireworks show, he'd been happy to think he'd finally get to share that tradition with his daughter. She'd seemed excited too as he'd described the way lights would burst across the sky, getting the idea that it would be like a giant version of the laser-light show she'd once seen at a planetarium. He hadn't tried explaining more clearly after that; he thought the surprise would make it even more exciting for her.
"Are you ready, honey?" he whispered to her as a hush fell over the crowd.
She nodded and beamed up at him, her eyes bright even in the darkness of the night. As he did every time she smiled at him, in that moment he loved her more than he ever would have thought possible.
"Then keep looking in the sky over there," he said, pointing into the air above where the fireworks were being set up. "It's just about to start."
As she kept her eyes focused eagerly on the sky, he kept his on her, more interested in seeing her excitement when the first few fireworks went off than in watching them himself. When the first shot into the air and exploded he felt a moment of pride for making her happy when her eyes began to widen.
Then she started to scream.
For a horrifying moment he thought that the cult had somehow found her and managed to attack without his seeing--after every other insane thing that Silent Hill had produced invisible cultists would seem positively ordinary--then he realized that she was still staring at the fireworks, her face now twisted with fear.
He snatched her up in an instant, starting for his car the moment he was on his feet, not caring in the least about leaving behind the blanket they'd brought. She only quieted down the smallest bit once she was safely in his arms, stifling hers screams against his shoulder and trembling as she wrapped her arms and legs tightly around him. Harry's hand twitched for a steel pipe when he heard someone yelling to shut her up, but he wasn't going to give into the urge when his daugher was terrified.
It wasn't until he'd gotten her into the car, facing away from the fireworks and with the metal wall dampening the noise, that her cries finally died down to sobs, although she refused to let him go. "Cher-- Heather, what's wrong?" he asked, petting her hair and hugging her tightly in an attempt to do anything that might help her.
After a long moment of struggling to hold back her sobs enough to speak, Heather pulled back far enough to look at him. Her eyes were still wide and panicked as she babbled out, "Don't let them burn me, Daddy, I don't wanna be burned, please, /please/--" and then her words were swallowed up by another burst of tears and she pressed her face against his shoulder again.
He just held her close, not pressing her to talk about it again, and tried to ignore the fact that even though it was undoubtedly his daughter that he held in his arms for a moment he'd swear that he'd seen an older girl with large, dark, eyes in her place.
Sign up to rate and review this story