Unspoken plea for help

I sit patently at the edge of her bed, waiting for her to grab me,

My arms perch plush at my sides, extended in anticipation for her embrace,

Her mother tells her to hide under her bed, she grabs me and my fur absorbs her tiny tears,

She doesn’t understand her parent’s quarrel, but she listens to her mother’s plea as she squeezes me to her chest.

Her mother pushes against the door, yelling for help through her sobs,

Her father beats against it in his drunken rage, unsure who he is fighting against,

Time passes by slowly, the beats against the door finally end, her mother slides down in a slump and calls us over to her.

Her mother clutches us both tightly against her chest, apologizing and kissing us sweetly, promising a better tomorrow.

The tears in the room finally stop and we snuggle into bed, a milk filled bottle in one arm and me in the other, my glassy eyes peer into the voiceless child. The girl who aches for her parents’ love, who wishes only for love, the only thing I can offer is comfort, for I am merely a teddy bear.