Ireland, 1980

Damy wakes up. ‘Damn, I slept great!’ She stands up and walks to the kitchen. No one. Awesome. It looks like her parents are still asleep. Or they’re drunk, she doesn’t know. She doesn’t care. Damy puts some bread in the toaster and goes to the bathroom to get a shower.
When she comes back, the bread is out of the toaster, on the floor, to give you some more detail… ‘Fuck.’ She says. She picks up the bread and throws it to the dog. He’s sick, deadly sick. But for as long as it’s still alive, she’ll take care of him. Damy puts another piece of bread in the toaster and at the same time she’s making a cup of coffee for herself. You got to do what you got to do when your parents seem to be vanished from the planet. When her bread is done she puts some chocolate on it. Delicious, chocolate in the morning, together with a cup of coffee. Could it be better?
Damy goes to the living room and turns on the television. News flash. ‘Hmm.. not important.’ When she wants to zap away, she sees her town. Her street. Her house.
She turns the volume up.
‘News Flash we’re in Springfield, on the Europe Street. There’s been a slaughter. Two people died, Mister and Misses Dawnen. The eye-witnesses say they have seen a monster. What most looks like an angel. I don’t believe it, George, but they say so! An angel who kills two people…What’s so weird about it, is that there were many people on the streets. And only these two get kill-’ Damy zaps away. Tears are falling down on her cheeks. No, impossible. Her parents, dead? Damy stands up and looks out of the window. No one. She’s probably still asleep, well, a bit. It must be another street, another house and another town. But somehow she can’t convince herself of that. She knows it was her town, her street and her house. But why? Why her parents? And why is no one here? She’s just fifteen years old. She can’t make it on her own. No way! That’s impossible. She can’t even work.. How is she going to pay the bills? ‘Shit shit shit! DAMN!’ She runs outside and start screaming. To no one, yes, to God. To make Him hear that she doesn’t agree with it. That she will fight until the bitter end.
When she’s inside again the first thing she does is running to her room. She needs to talk to someone about this. She grabs her phone and calls Amanda.
‘Hello, this is Amanda. I can’t answer the phone now. I’ll call back as soon as possible. Ciao.’ Damy hangs up and throws her phone away. Amanda was her hope. They’ve been friends since elementary school and they haven’t fought since. Her phone rings.
Damy grabs it and answers: ‘Hello, Damy here. Who is this?’
‘hey darling. It’s Amanda. I’m sorry I didn’t pick up my phone. It was upstairs. Haha.’
Damy grins. Even though her parents are dead, Amanda always makes her laugh. ‘Amanda, could you come over? Please? It’s important.’ No reaction. ‘Amanda?’ Damy is worried. What if something is happened to Amanda? Damy, focus. She might forgot that she was on the phone. It doesn’t sound realistic. Not at all. ‘Hey, Damy, sweetheart. I just heard it on the news! I’m on my way.’ Amanda hangs up.
The doorbell. It’s the third time in half a hour. Her neighbors are trying to be nice to her, but she doesn’t want it. She wants to be alone. Well, together with Amanda. She opens the door. ‘Amanda! Thank God! What took you so long?’ Amanda walks in and she sits on the couch. ‘I’m sorry, my mom first of all didn’t agree with it. She was so worried!’ Damy gives Amanda a hug. ‘Thanks for coming. I really need you now.’ Damy wipes some tears. ‘Sweety, tell me everything.’ Damy sighs. ‘I’m afraid I don’t know more than you… I didn’t even get a call from the hospital or something. Nothing! Like I don’t exist…’ Tears are falling down again. ‘like I don’t exist…’ Damy keeps repeating that sentence. All over again. Like she doesn’t exist. But she does, she does exist. And she want to know what’s happened to her parents. She will take revenge on that thing!
A couple hours later Amanda leaves. And again, no one here. But now forever.
Damy always liked it when she was alone. Or when her parents weren’t drunk. When her dad didn’t hit her with whatever he could grab. When she could climb into her mother’s arms and feel safe for a while. Because then… then they grabbed a bottle of alcohol. Damy always went upstairs when that happened. She didn’t want to see it. She didn’t want to be together with her dad when he was drunk. He would hit her, with knives, spoons, once even a chair. She lost all respect for them. But now they’re dead, the only thing she wants are her parents. Whether they’re drunk or not. Just see them, talk to them. And maybe even laugh with them.

Next week is the funeral. She’ll be there, together with some other people. To bury them, but what exactly? They’ve been slaughtered. There’s nothing left of them. They are gone.

Damy puts some clothes on, who can be worn at a funeral. ‘Okay, I’m ready for it.’ She says to herself. When she walks outside there are many people waiting for her. ‘Damy!’ Damy turns her head to the right and sees Amanda. ‘Amanda! Could you give me a ride?’ Damy walks up to Amanda and goes into the car. It’s a huge one. The parents of Amanda are also in the car. ‘Hey Damy. I’m so sorry for you!’ The mother of Amanda says. Damy looks out of the car window. ‘I don’t want to talk about it. I’m sorry miss.’ The mother of Amanda sighs and looks to the road in front of them. ‘I understand. Darling. I just want you to know that we are there for you.’ Tears are rolling down her cheeks again. Damy wipes them away. Don’t cry. Be strong Damy. Be strong. ‘I know miss, thank you.’
The funeral, they finally arrived. How hard is it not to cry… On the side of the road something’s moving. ‘You saw that?’ Damy asks Amanda. ‘Euhm, no. I think the tears in your eyes made you confuse a move with I don’t know, a tear drop? Don’t worry.’ Amanda pulls Damy to the crematorium. ‘No, Amanda! I’m sure! Something was moving! I’m not confused. I swear!’ Damy tries to get away but Amanda’s holding her tight. ‘Sweet, there is nothing out there. Sit down, or do you want to see your parents before they go into the grave?’ Damy says nothing but walks to her parents. Nothing. Well, there is something, but you can’t identify it as humans. ‘GOD DAMN! WHY?!’ Damy screams. This is unfair. They should never have died!
The ceremony starts.
‘So, we will miss our beloved friends, parents.’ Damy needs to stop. She can’t get the words ‘I will always love you’ out of her mouth. She can’t, because she won’t. ‘I’m sorry, I can not say I will love them. Because I know I won’t. Of course, sometimes they weren’t drunk, they didn’t hit me, but most of the time they did. I lost all of my love for them, although I didn’t wish that this would happen, but I won’t love them. Not now, not later. Impossible.’ Damy goes back to her seat. Good job, Damy. You told them the truth.
The grave, it’s nothing more than a hole in the ground. ‘Amanda. Have you seen it now?!’ Damy looks to Amanda, with tears in her eyes. ‘What was I supposed to see?’ She asks. ‘Damn! I’m not blind. There’s something. Over there, in the bushes. I’m serious!’ Damy runs to the bushes. Nothing. No one. ‘I wasn’t dreaming. I’m sure. There was someone here. It had wings and up lighting eyes. It’s not a joke. I swear!’ Damy sits on the ground looking at the bush. It’s gone.