𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑏𝑜𝑡: CHANDLER POWELL WINTHROP
⇘ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑

𝘈𝘜𝘎𝘜𝘚𝘛 26𝘵𝘩, 2004
chandler's family wasn't the kind to have family night with board games and home made cooked food. they were a simple family, living off of the menial jobs that chandler's parents rachel and leonard powell worked. middle school teacher and construction worker don't exactly make the most money. but even though they didn't live in the greatest neighborhood or had the greatest house, they made it work. the family was always busy, but they always took thursday nights off to have a movie night. and this thursday night was no different.
chandler sat on the couch in between her mother and father, a coloring book rested on her lap. she was never able to do only one thing at a time. chandler was a restless child, always moving around and never able to just sit still. she loved to color, so watching toy story with her parents and coloring was something she did often. toy story happened to be her favorite movie to watch, so this would be the 3rd week in a row that they were watching it. every few seconds chandler pushed her long brown hair behind her ears. she groaned, getting fed up with it and she turned to her mother. "momma, can you put it up? it's being annoying." she asked and then pouted until her mother gave her a fake groan of compliance in return. "oh fine, chan. but you're going to have to learn to do this yourself at some point." her mother laughed and pulled her hair into a low ponytail at the base of her neck.
     by the end of the movie, chandler's father was asleep and her mother was picking up some crayons that had fallen into the floor. she had finished her drawing, and it was expertly colored might i add. she always knew how to color inside the lines. the credits were half way finished once chandler actually realized that she movie was finished. she pushed her father's arm and he awoke with a start. chandler giggled and closed the coloring book. "you were snoring." the 4 year old stared with a grin. his hand came up to pat the top of her head, and he leaned down and kissed her forehead.
     he sighed and then pushed himself off of the couch. "okay, chan time for bed." chandler pouted and crosses her arms, "but i'm not even tired!" she exclaimed, kicking her legs against the couch. she then proceeded to yawn, and both of her parents gave her a look thag basically said 'oh really?' chandler looked down at her feet, "maybe i'm just a little tired." she hopped off of the couch, and put the coloring book on the coffee table with a few of the crayons still in her left hand.
     the three of them made their way down the hall into chandler's bedroom, which was extremely small, but she was a pretty small person. she climbed into bed and pulled her own covers up, which made her feel like a big girl. but both her parents tucked the covers in around her body. they used to all sleep together, so chandler likes the feeling of being nestled in tight to the bed. "goody nighty." chandler said to her parents with a fading grin and sagging eyelids. "goody nighty." they both repeated to chandler as her eyes fell closed
     her mother was about to give chandler a kiss goodnight when they all heard movement coming from the kitchen. chandler's head shot up and her parents each turned to the open door to chandler's room, and then back to their daughter. they could be just hearing things, but they both knew that this isn't the greatest area of town. it was very probable that there was a robbery happening in their house.
     chandler's father pulled his phone out of his pocket, a look of concern on his face as her mother ushered chandler out of bed. "what's going o-?" she was able to ask before her mother clasped a hand over her mouth. chandler could feel her mother's hand shaking on her face. chandler was quickly pushed into the closet, and she sat on the floor, her knees pulled up into her chest. a look of worry and fear crossed her face; she had never seen her parents act like this.
     "you're going to call 9-1-1, just like we practiced okay, honey?" chandler's father whispered to her, crouched on the ground next to her. "say your name, your address, and tell them a stranger is in the house." chandler nodded a few times and then whispered back, "stranger danger." her mom crouched beside her, "yeah, that's right baby." she managed to say to her, though it was obvious that she was terrified. her hand ran over chandler's hair. "stay here and be as quiet as you possibly can."
     the closet door closed, turning everything to black, and blocking out the faces of the two people that chandler trusted in the world. her hands shook as she held the phone, dialing 9-1-1 like her father told her to.
     "9-1-1, what's your emergency?"
     "um, hi, i'm chandler powell. and i live at 7 cor-cork drive, and there's a stranger in my house." her voice shook as she spoke.
     "okay chandler, we're going to send someone out there right away. can you find a place to hide?"
     everything was deadly silent other than the operator's voice. "i'm in my closet."
     "that's very good. the police are on their way to help you, okay? i want you to stay very quiet now okay?"
     "okay."
     and it was quiet for a few moments that felt like a lifetime. chandler waited and listened for something to happen, but it never came. her heart raced in her chest, not even aware enough to be afraid of the darkness in the closet when the real terror was just outside her door.
     bang. the first gun shot went off. and then a scream coming from the mouth of a woman. even though chandler was 4 years old, she knew what a gun shot sounded like. tears began to fall down her face, and she covered her mouth with her free hand to stop herself from making a sound. it felt like ages, but only three seconds later.
     bang. bang. two more gun shots and all the screaming ceased.
     the quiet seemed to eat chandler alive as she sat in the closet, the 9-1-1 operator reassuring her that she would be okay every 45 seconds or so. there was a long pause of silence and then a jiggle on the door handle.
     chandler's heart stopped and she held her breath, somehow knowing that if she made a sound he would come in and shoot her. she door creaked open, yet only after a few seconds it was closed again.
     chandler's eyes fell closed and she continued to quietly sob in the silence that was broken by police sirens that were all too late.