It had been a day like any other days since she had moved to Jacksonville. It was not terribly long ago that she had packed up what little she could bring and took her daughter away from the abusive home she had been living in for years until she had mustered up the courage and strength to leave. Haf it just been her, she probably never would have left, but she wanted a better life for her little girl and that was not something she could offer her while stuck in a toxic, abusive relationship. She also did not want Lilly to learn that abusive behavior or tolerating it was okay. So she knew she had to get out. It had been a long trip. Traveling from California all the way to the East Coast was not an easy thing to do and even less easy with a small child and an old car of which she wasn’t sure it would make the trip. But she had to get as far away as she could. Fate had it that the car broke down near Jacksonville, in the dead of night of course. She was then forced to leave the car at the side of the road, pick up her little girl and the bag they had been living out of and walked until she saw a nearby Motel. She found kindness there that she had not seen before in her life. The owner and his wife felt for the young mother and her little girl and decided to help her. They gave them a room for the night and would make sure that the car would be towed to the garage in town to have it fixed. Natalie was so grateful that in the morning she left the room absolutely spotless and this sparked an idea with the owner’s wife. She offered Natalie a room, board and a salary in exchange for her working at the Motel in housekeeping. She happily accepted and so her life in Jacksonville took off. She saved up her salary and tips and after only a few months she could afford to rent a small place where she and Lilly could live.
After moving into her first ever own home, even if rental, she really began to develop. She relished her freedom and the fact that she got to decide for herself how she wanted to decorate the house and even what they would have for dinner. Lilly also blossomed, beginning to play with kids in the playground where Natalie would take her on her days off when it wasn’t raining. The months passed and Jacksonville prepared for the Holiday season with Halloween kicking it off. Houses on every street were decorated in the spooky theme and Natalie, though on a budget, of course also made an effort to really partake in it. Lilly was super excited to go trick or treating for the first time, so Natalie had made them both a costume by hand, since buying two costumes, or even commissioning them was simply over her budget. Once Lilly’s outfit was done and they had their fitting session, she had been in love with her cute little pumpkin costume and she did not want to take it off, Natalie resorting to washing it when she was asleep. The day of trick or treating came closer and in her off time, she had worked on her own, fairly simple costume, that of Lara Croft from Tomb Raider, though as the temperatures began to drop, she wondered if maybe the shorts and tank-top would be too cold to walk around in.(edited)
But then everything seemed to go south and the threat of an outbreak cast its shadow over the Spooky Festivities. Natalie was just walking home from doing her grocery shopping after having worked a morning shift, Lilly wearing her cute pumpkin costume and holding her hand, when the Military moved into the town. The police had been putting up road blocks and this was an indicator that things were becoming more serious. She saw the first HUMVEE of the procession and Lilly tugged her hand before she pointed, “Awmy!” she shouted, seeing the kitted out Marine giving her a wave. “Yes, baby girl… those are our Marines,” she softly confirmed as she followed the procession with a furrowed brow. Just her luck… She was finally free, only to be threatened with curfew and maybe even worse, again… After the procession had passed and reached their destination at the Jacksonville CDC facility, she guided Lilly back to their little home. She planted the bag of groceries on the kitchen counter and pulled out Lilly’s coloring book and crayons before she placed her in her high chair so she could safely color away. She then flicked on the small TV set in her kitchen, tuning into the news while she began to put away her groceries, wondering if Lilly would be able to trick or treat, or that she was going to miss out…
