The girl looked so small in the chair that was too big for her.

“Just tell us what you remember,” the social worker said.

“I was looking out my window at the swimming pool. I saw Mommy and Daddy. At first I thought they were playing some game, then it looked like he was trying to hold her under the water. I rubbed my hand across  the window and could see better. I knew he loved us both too much to try to hurt us, so he had to be trying to save her. Maybe she was trying to drown herself and he was fighting to keep her from it. Then he climbed up the ladder and went in to call the police. They agreed with him that it was an accident. But....but....”

“But what?”

“But I thought I heard my Mommy’s voice just before she went under,

saying, “I’ll haunt you til the end of your life.”

“What happened then?”

“Daddy seemed to be all right during the day, but at night I would hear sounds from his bedroom. When I went in he would be moving around, punching the air as if he was fighting with someone. Then I would hear Mommy’s voice again.

“Til the end of your life.”

“How did it all end?”

“It was Thanksgiving Day. Daddy was carving the turkey. He put some on a plate with
candied yams and baked beans and some cole slaw and handed it to me. Then he got a funny look on his face and stabbed out with the knife as if someone was there. Then he
fell forward on the floor. I called 911 and some people came. They said he must have had convulsions and fell on the knife. I didn’t say anything to them, but I heard Mommy’s voice again.

“Till the end of your life.”

“So you’re an orphan now?”  “Only in the daytime. At night, Mommy comes and takes care of me. She always brings me these chocolate covered raisins that I like so much.”

She held out a small hand to show them all. They looked and they looked but the hand was empty.

“Til the end of your life” echoed through the chamber.