"Run baby run! Go quickly, get away! Hide!"

She took a few steps back, her eyes wide, staring at her mama clutching a kitchen knife in her hand, looking more scared than ever before. Papa had come home mean again, but meaner than usual, and he had got Toby out; Toby made loud noises and smoke and hot metal and was badbadbad. "Get away Anne! Run!"

She shook her head no, her lower lip trembling; she couldn't leave her mama here. And her mama couldn't leave her all alone. Her mama wrapped her in her thin arms, stroking Anne's hair, making soothing noises, whispering quickly into her ear. "You go hide in your closet now and mama will be with you real soon," She said, holding Anne away from her slightly, sniffing. "Can you be a brave little soldier gal for mama and go curl up real tight in your closet so no one, not nobody nohow, can see you?"

Anne nodded silently, gulping past the large knot in her throat that threatened to choke her, blinking back tears. Her mother brought her close again, holding her tight like she never wanted to let go; never not anytime, how tight her grip was. Tight enough to hurt but Anne didn't mind; she loved every bit of it because her mother loved her.

"Mama loves you baby girl," Her mama, reaffirmed with a whisper into her ear, letting out a strangled, choking sound. "You go run and hide," She said with a watery smile. "Go now, real quick like!" She ushered Anne away and then turned, racing down the stairs. Anne stared after her for a moment; could she really just hide? What if mama needed help? She had been told to hide; she had to be a brave soldier girl and hide, just like her mama said.

She turned on her heel, running as fast as she could down the hallway, almost crashing into the wall as she tried to turn at full speed. She rubbed her shoulder as she ran towards her room; just hide, just hide, like a good girl. Stay quiet, curl up real tight so no one, not nobody nohow, could see her. Not nobody.

Racing into her room she fell onto her bed, quickly tugging Teddy off the bed and dragging him across the floor until she made it to her closet. She turned the knob and the door squeaked open, then slammed shut behind her and Teddy.

Her breathing was the only sound she could hear besides the muffled shouts of her papa, but her loud gasps of air were so much louder than those; her papa could have been a world away.

Looking down, she gripped Teddy's zipper and pulled it down in one long motion. Teddy was a very big, very soft teddy bear; he kept her safe, yes he did and nobody could tell her different. He beat up monsters; he could be as mean as them if he wanted, but never to her. And when she needed to make him stronger with more stuffing, she could just unzip him and put more in. She never told anyone, not even mama, but sometimes she crawled in there, inside of Teddy, just to make it easier on him to fight off the monsters. And papa was a monster, king of monsters; Teddy would keep her safe though.

All she had to do was climb inside.

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The second part should be up this Wednesday, January 5th. As the description says, this is a very short story, with only two brief parts. I'm interested to know, however, details you can gleam. With so little information given, how much can you tell about Anne and her life? What do you think led to this? What does everything look like to you? I'd love to know!

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