The Omniscrolls

Two weeks had passed since mom passed away and I was finally ready to check her belongings. Going through her desk, I came across a diary. As I sifted through the pages, my eyes stopped at a crossed-out page that was titled ‘Marissa’: Marissa, if you’re reading this, I have passed away. It’s time you learned the truth. I am not your mother, I’m an assassin. I was once hired to kill your family, including you, because they were creating a lot of problems for some powerful people through their activism. But although I killed your parents, I  couldn’t bring myself to do the same to you. And so, I adopted you instead. My hands began to tremble; I felt lifeless. I threw the diary at the wall as I fell to the floor. Everything I knew was a lie—my whole life was a lie. I sat there, on the floor, unable to move or even think. I don’t know how much time passed, but I eventually heard the doorbell ring. It was dad. I confronted him about it the moment he stepped inside. “Were you in on it, too?”

I woke up to the warmth of the sunlight brushing against my face. It was a week before Christmas, and my mind wandered off to all the things I needed to wrap up. It was then that the doorbell rang and derailed my train of thought. I opened the door to find a delivery guy with a package. “Delivery for Francesca Miller. Please sign here.” I looked at the package. It read, From: Santa Claus . “Is this some kind of joke?” The delivery guy shrugged. “I don’t know, ma’am.” I signed the paper and took the package inside. My husband, Josh, was curious about it. “I think Dani’s playing a prank on you again, Fran.” I opened the package and found a green and red suit inside. There was a note next to it, which read: Fran, would you please help me at the factory today? Two of my elves are sick and I could really use your help. “This is ridiculous.” Josh covered his mouth as he laughed. “See if it fits.” “Go away.” The day passed by with no more surprises. At night, however, I was woken up by thump

“Mommy, daddy, wake up! It's time to go out!” Noah jumped up and down on the bed.   “Okay, okay, just give us a minute,” my husband, Clive, said. “Mommy, let’s just leave daddy at home and go there by ourselves.” “Oh, is that how it is?” Clive pulled Noah and tickled him. I laughed and got out of bed. “You both better hurry up or I’ll go alone.” Around an hour later, we arrived at the park. Noah leapt out of the car and ran across the ground littered with orange and red leaves. I had to yell at him to keep him from straying into the woods. The park was nearly deserted, with only a few families around. It was peaceful and quiet. The faint warmth of the sun stroked my face, whilst the soft, cool breeze enveloped me in its gentle embrace. Winter was closing in, with Christmas just a week away. Noah was still adamant to explore every corner of the park, so we followed close behind. Soon, we were the only ones left in the park, and suddenly, there was the sound of a twig snapping nearby

As my husband and I were ready to leave on our camping trip, his phone began to ring. I reached for it, but my husband waved at me not to answer it. “What’s wrong, Cam?” “It’s from a client, Abby, and a peculiar one at that.” Their conversation had only just begun, but Cam looked like he was already drained. He left for the office a few minutes later, saying he’ll be back in two or three hours. And so, I waited, not three but four hours. I called him and he said that he was stuck with work. Cam was the one who really loved camping, yet he was the one who kept on putting it off. This was the third time we had to cancel our plans that month. Since I had bought new boots for our trip, I decided to go hiking on my own. The warmth of the sun was gentle upon my skin, and the cool breeze even gentler. Hiking through the woods, under a cascading mixture of show and light, and surrounded by the soft rustling of the trees, I felt more energised than I had been in months. After a while, I noticed