My Little Lyra

Little Lyra, your arm has fallen off again. Let me stitch it up for you, don’t want this coagulated blood to spill on this food, would you? Ah, of course you can’t move your mouth, silly me. I promised to fix that sooner rather than later, forgive your father little Lyra, he’s going on his old age.

Still a little rude to have your arm fall off during dinner. This dish was a result of hard labour, Lyra. You should be more appreciative and show proper manners young lady. however, I will let this slide. The side effects of your… current state of being had made it difficult to live the way you lived before, I’m sure. Whenever we have our harvest, I always must force your lips apart to feed you spoonsful of our dinner. Oh Lyra, I wish I wouldn’t have to pamper you this much, but it can’t be helped. You’re such a delicate little girl and I don’t what I would do to myself if I were to lose you.

Oh dear, oh dear. Lyra, you’re rotting. The black marks of necrosis crawl on your hands like insects. I must find a replacement for your limbs but I’m afraid I’ve ran out of stock in the warehouse. Be patient with me Lyra, I will get them for you.

Lyra, I have these new arms for you. Now ignore the red stains on my coat and the red liquid dripping out of these arms, I’m afraid I couldn’t get a clean cut, but these will make do. They fit your exact size, and you’ll be good as new. You are such a lucky child, Lyra. No father would put in the dedication and the strength of will to ensure his child’s wellbeing these days. he would rather bury them the instant he can no longer see the light in their eyes. Lyra doesn’t have them, but I don’t throw her away like a burden. She still has a life to fulfil, and I will not let that end for her. Anyway, I’ll start stitching these arms. Be patient Lyra, this will be done in moment, and you won’t feel a thing.

The police have come to our residence asking about the disappearances of young girls from the nearby village. I told them that I know nothing of those such cases, that I lived in this farm to work on the land to harvest to know of these incidents. I do not have time for these matters. Only my little Lyra matters. I didn’t tell them about you of course; I respect your privacy as I do mine and these policemen would do best to leave us alone. You did nothing wrong and it’s best that way. Still, the policemen eye me with suspicion, they believe that I had a part in this. That’s not their concern; my concern is whether or not we have food stored to survive the winter. The police have left but I believe they will bother us once more to uncover this case of the disappearing young girls. Little Lyra, be sure to hide whenever the townsfolk or the police come prowling around our home.

More and more of these pigs come to our home, disturbing our way of life, little Lyra. They believe that I have something to do with disappearances, I’d say they were deluded into thinking they can solve this case. They should leave this matter, if they can’t catch the ones responsible then they should know when to give up. Who’s to blame if not the parents of these children who allow them to wander out of their homes, into the woods, where they’ll be snatch by a lone farmer. A desperate father who would haul these children to his workshop and hack their bodies into spare body parts. It is their fault. They’re the ones that should be questioned and be put on trial. Not I. Lyra did nothing wrong. She deserves to live her life to the fullest and I will not allow anyone to ruin it, even if I would die protecting it. All I do is to ensure your happiness, my little Lyra.

Lyra. My dear little Lyra. They come, the villagers come for us. They have gathered into a mob and now come for our farm to burn it down. They believe me guilty, abducting their children and holding them hostage in our abode. I did no such thing; I didn’t hold them hostage. I merely hacked them into pieces so that my little Lyra could be in this world a little longer. Alright, I admit it, Lyra. I am the one behind the disappearances, but you must understand, it was to benefit you. You were my sole reason for driving me into this. I couldn’t bare the fact that I lost you to death, I couldn’t bare to live in this wretched world alone. But then I saw girl who had a face so much like you, I thought she was like little Lyra. So, I took her so she can become you, but her body was wrong. Her arms too large, legs too stubby. So, I did the only I could think of. I chopped her head, disposed the body and kept the head. It was then that I decided to recreate you, to have you in this world. So, I kidnapped more children and I chopped them into even more pieces. To stitch them altogether to make you, my little Lyra. Forgive your father, I was so lonely.

They come; the mob has come. I hid us in your bedroom, Lyra. I promise to protect you. They have found my stock in the warehouse. I could hear their guttural scream. Their anguish cries over seeing bloodied pieces of what they once call children. Screams turn to shouting, anguish to anger. They barricaded the front door; we are trapped here. I could smell smoke coming through the bedroom door. They have set fire to our home, Lyra. This is the end. Know this my dear little Lyra. All I did was out of love for you. I love you my daughter, meet me God’s gate for me, will you? He will understand that I did it for love. For you, my little Lyra.