Jon Athan - Am I Beautiful?

“Look who’s here,” Amber squealed. “It’s daddy!”

Riley looked back at her father, swinging her arms and legs as she bounced and giggled in her highchair. Her smile was contagious, her laughter was the cure for depression, and her innocence was inspirational. She melted Adam’s heart and purified his mind. He was just thinking about the woman he had almost killed, but now he could only think about his baby girl. He planted a big kiss on her forehead, then he kissed his wife.

Amber was a certified public accountant turned housewife. She didn’t mind pausing her career to raise Riley. She planned on returning to work as soon as Riley could attend school. In the meantime, she took care of her baby and the housework while replacing accounting with painting—many of which she sold online. She was an artist at heart.

She asked, “How’s Dallas?”

As he sat down in front of his plate, Adam said, “He’s good.”

“Marissa told me he’s getting ready to go to Japan again.”

“Yup.”

Adam felt his throat tightening. He took a sip of his orange juice, then he grunted into his clenched fist. He smiled and waved at Riley from across the table. Riley spared a short glance before dipping her fingers into her cereal bowl.

“No, no, no. You have to use a spoon, baby,” Amber said in a soft voice as she moved her daughter’s arm. Without taking her eyes off Riley and shifting back to her normal voice, she asked, “So you’re really not going?”

“Nope,” Adam responded.

“Good. We would have missed you too much. Isn’t that right, baby? You love daddy, don’t you?”

“Ma-ma,” Riley said, grinning.

They all laughed together.

“Sounds like she’d miss you more than me,” Adam joked.

Amber said, “I’ve heard her say ‘da-da,’ you just haven’t caught her yet.”

“Well, with Dallas off my back next week, I think I’ll have plenty of free time to finally hear those words.”

A sense of euphoria flowed through Adam. He was excited to watch his daughter grow up. He was happy to be with the love of his life. And life was beautiful. But an idea kept stabbing the back of his mind. Maybe Miki didn’t cooperate because she wanted to spare me, he thought. Maybe she really loved me .

Riley dipped her fingers into the cereal again, leading to a playful scolding from Amber. Riley’s actions brought another smile to Adam’s face. He counted his blessings, ate his breakfast, and spent some quality time with his family before heading out to work.

“What time do you gotta be home?” Sebastian asked as he kicked a rock down the dirt path.

Brian said, “Six.”

Sebastian was twelve years old and Brian was a few months younger than him. Although he was supposed to be watching them that afternoon, Sebastian’s older brother, José, dropped them off at Griffith Park so they could hike by themselves while he went off to smoke with his friends. The young kids were curious about the decapitated body that had been discovered in the area the month prior.

Sebastian asked, “You know what my brother told me?”

“What?”

“Your mom’s a bitch.”

“Shut up, dude.”

Sebastian cackled as Brian pushed him. His laughter echoed through the desolate woods. There were no other hikers in sight, only a sea of trees and dirt. Brian just shook his head and rolled his eyes. He had called his mom a bitch once—and it led to a spanking and a lengthy grounding. If he couldn’t call his mom a bitch, he wasn’t going to let Sebastian do it.

“So, you think there’s another one out here?” Sebastian asked.

“Another what?”

“A dead body, duh! ”

Brian pouted and shrugged, then he said, “I thought you were just kidding.”

“No, dude. I wanna see one, too.”

“You’ve never seen a dead body?”

“Have you?” Sebastian asked before picking up a branch from the ground. Brian nodded. Sebastian swung the branch at a bush, sending leaves spiraling into the air, then he asked, “Who?”

Brian said, “My grandma’s.”

Sebastian swung the branch like a golf club, launching rocks in front of them without looking up. Some stones bounced on the dirt, others ricocheted off the trees.

He smacked his lips, then he said, “Man, that doesn’t count. I wanna see a real dead body. Someone who’s, like… I don’t know, dude, like the movies and stuff. Did you ever watch…”

Sebastian’s voice faded to silence upon noticing Brian had stopped walking next to him. He glanced back at his meek friend, then he looked straight ahead.

“Huh?” he whispered as he furrowed his brow.

Miki stood next to a tree about ten meters away from them, face hidden by a black cloth mask, hands covered in black leather gloves, and body wrapped in a beige trench coat. Her long, silky black hair was sprawled across her narrow shoulders. The mask was unusual—it was rare to see an American walking with their face covered—but there was nothing particularly frightening about her appearance.

Nevertheless, the boys were scared shitless by her sudden emergence in the woods. She gave off a menacing aura because they didn’t know her and they couldn’t see her face. Her eerie stare didn’t help her case.

Without looking back at Brian, Sebastian asked, “Did I hit her with a rock?”

“N–No,” Brian responded. “I–I don’t think so.”

“So, what is she looking at?”

“I think she’s looking at… you.”

“ Me?! ” Sebastian yelled as he glared at Brian. He shoved him and shouted, “She’s looking at you , dude!”

“No, she’s not!”

“Yeah, she is! She’s—”

“Hello,” Miki interrupted with a gentle voice.

The boys stopped arguing to look at her. The tree branches groaned, leaves rustled, and birds chirped and cawed. The only footsteps, fast and light, came from the area’s woodland critters.

“Ha–Ha–Hi,” Sebastian stuttered.

Brian sidestepped until he was partially hidden behind Sebastian, using his friend as a human shield. He kept peeking around him, though, as curious as a social media company’s CEO.

“Come here,” Miki said.

“Wha–What?” Sebastian stuttered. “Wha–Wha–Why?”

Miki giggled, then she said, “I just want to ask you something.”

The boys looked at each other. They shook their heads slowly, communicating without saying a word: No way!

Sebastian glanced back at Miki and said, “No.”

“No?”

“Just, um… You can just tell us from over there.”

“Why? Are you scared of me? You think I’m… a monster?”

From behind Sebastian, Brian said, “Monsters aren’t real.”

Miki stepped forward, dirt and leaves crunching under her boots. The boys noticed she was empty-handed. A sense of relief pulsed through them, but they knew they weren’t out of the woods yet. The kids staggered back as she closed in on them.

Nine meters.

Eight meters.

Six meters

Five meters.

They were now about five meters apart.

Miki said, “Monsters are real. They’re not like the monsters you read about in your books or see in the movies. They’re like you and me—man and woman, adult and child, flesh and bone. I knew a monster once. I met him when I was a… princess … back when I was the most beautiful girl in the world.”

Sebastian stepped back until he bumped into Brian, then he teetered away from him and crashed into a tree. Brian watched her with a set of inquisitive eyes, his head cocked to the side. Her story captured his attention. He still read fairy tales with his mother before bed every other night.