An orphaned little girl turns to her late mother for help when every sliver of hope turns into darkness and despair. She writes letters and posts them to her dead mother, begging her to take her away from her evil aunt. One day, an answer arrives.
On a Monday afternoon after school, Vicki sat on the bench near her school gate, waiting for her mom, Katie, to pick her up. Katie was an interior designer who shuttled between work and raising her daughter alone after her husband died of cancer a few years ago.
“It’s going to be four. Why hasn’t mommy come?” Vicki grew tense as she kept checking the time on her wristwatch. She felt something was wrong because Katie had never been late to pick her up.It was half past four, and the watchman was about to close the gate. Vicki was still sitting there, tears slowly dripping from her eyes, creating little mud spots on the ground. Suddenly, someone tapped her shoulder from behind. Vicki was startled, and from the very pressure of the touch, she could tell it was not her mother…
“Vicki Parker?”
“Yes,” Vicki was surprised when she turned around and saw a tall, stout middle-aged policeman behind her.
“I found the girl,” he spoke on the walkie-talkie. “Vicki, please come with me.”
“Where? My mommy will come to pick…”
Before Vicki could finish talking, the cop took her bag, helped her get up, and said: “Vicki, your mother will not come.”
“Why won’t mommy come?? Where’s she?” Vicki panicked.
The officer didn’t know how to answer Vicki. He knew it would break her heart, but he had no choice but to tell her that her mother had met with an accident and died on her way to school.
“You always told me stories of miracles. Why is there no miracle to help me, mommy?”
“WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? What happened to my mommy? Please, take me to her… Please… I want to see her,” Vicki cried.
“I’m sorry, Vicki. Please stay strong. Let’s go now.”
“Go where?”
“To the police station… someone’s waiting for you there.”
The cop drove Vicki to the station, where her aunt Carla was waiting for her. Vicki had no idea how her life would soon turn into a nightmare.
“Vicki darling… I’m so sorry this happened to you,” Carla ran and wrapped her arms around Vicki. “I’ll take you home. Please stay strong.”
Vicki was haunted by seeing her aunt she was not fond of. She knew her mother and Carla never got along well and barely stayed in touch after their relationship turned sour over a property dispute.
As Carla drove Vicki home, she recalled the last conversation with Katie.
“You stole my house, Katie… I don’t understand how our dad could do this to me and bequeath you this whole house,” Carla yelled at her sister.
“Carla, dad still paid for your university that you dropped out in the middle. He couldn’t pay for me, and that’s why he left his house to me. I don’t understand why you’re so furious. I didn’t steal anything. I want to sell it to pay for my education,” Katie said.
“I don’t want to argue with you. Paying for my education was dad’s choice. But this house is ours. I grew up here. It should go to the two of us and not just one. We should divide it equally,” Carla argued but was ultimately booted out by Katie. With time, Carla’s grudge against Katie became intense.She took her little niece under her wing not because she loved her. But because Vicki was the only heiress to her late mother’s property. Carla knew she could only claim everything that once belonged to her late sister by adopting her orphaned daughter.
Shaken by her mother’s loss, Vicki went with her aunt, guessing little about what was in store for her.
“We are getting late. Can you make it fast, sweetie?” Carla told Vicki when she was laying the wreath on her mother’s grave at the funeral. Carla grabbed Vicki’s hand and led her to the car. Her heart still seethed with anger for her late sister that she didn’t even want to stand there a minute more.
Vicki then arrived at her aunt’s large mansion, like the ones she’d seen and read about in books. It looked gothic for its age, a modern splendor that lacked care and maintenance. When Vicki stepped into her aunt’s house, she did not get a warm, homely feeling.Toys and dolls were scattered on the floor as Anna, her 12-year-old cousin, stopped scribbling on her drawing book and stalked Vicki with a grim, unpleasant stare. Carla had lost her husband in a car crash years ago and lived with Anna in their house far from a cluttered neighborhood.
It was close to dinner, and Vicki was hungry. She remembered her dog Roger who would always sit beside her, waiting for her to toss a treat whenever she ate. She worriedly looked around for him, but he was not there.
“Where’s my dog, Roger? You didn’t bring him home??”
“My daughter is allergic to pets. So I sent Roger to an animal shelter. He must be doing fine there. Don’t worry about him.”
Tears rose in Vicki’s eyes. She missed Roger but trusted her aunt when she told her he would be fine at the shelter. She then dragged the chair to sit for the meal, but Carla suddenly stopped her.
“What are you doing, child?”
“I’m going to eat.”
“Didn’t your mother teach you any manners? This is my house, and I have my own rules. And you must obey me, darling,” Carla said in a stern, wicked tone. Vicki didn’t understand and stood still.
“What are you waiting for? Bring us the plates and set the table. I will give you food and shelter as long as you are grateful to me. I’m your aunt, and I deserve respect, considering how your mother ruined my life. NOW GO… BRING THE FOOD FROM THE KITCHEN AND PLATE IT.”
Vicki’s heart shuddered. She was frightened and ran into the kitchen, tearing up. Nobody had been so rude to her before. She set the table with food and desserts and then ate quietly.Later that night, Carla showed Vicki her room—a small, dim-lit storeroom crowded with old cartons and waste items. Her bed was in a corner, with a small table to keep a water bottle and a lamp.
It was not charming like Vicki’s beautiful and spacious bedroom in her former house. The coir mattress itched her skin. The smell of dust and mold made her cough.
Vicki made her bed and curled up but couldn’t sleep. She pressed her face on the window sill and cried, reminiscing about her heavenly life with her mom and Roger.Vicki’s life was so beautiful until that bright, sunny Sunday morning. The reflection of the cloudless blue sky sparkled in her big, brown eyes as her mother braided her hair on their porch.
“Phwwwwwhht” Vicki’s piercing whistle shrilled through the morning air as Roger came running with a Frisbee in his mouth. “Mommy, are we going to the zoo today?”
“And how about your favorite cookies and cream at aunt Poppy’s after that?” her mom laughed.
“Yipeeee!!” shouted Vicki.
“Hey, Roger… watch out!” Katie ran screaming as Vicki splashed water from the garden hose on her mom and dog.
They then drove off with Roger to the zoo and then to the ice cream parlor, placing bets on who would finish an entire ice cream tub in five minutes. They drove past the sun-kissed street, singing along to Elvis’s It’s Now or Never classic playing on their car stereo.
It was one of the best Sundays Vicki had ever had. If she only knew she would have to wait for a very long time for another happy weekend in her life.”Mommy, I miss you. Why did you leave me?” Vicki cried, returning to the moment. “I want to see you. I know you’re with daddy in heaven. Send Roger to me. He’s all I have now. Did he eat, mommy? I don’t like aunt Carla. She’s making me cry. She’s so rude to me.”
When Vicki opened her eyes, it was already morning. She’d cried herself to sleep. She gently rubbed her sleepy eyes and looked around. Her mom was not there holding a tray of her favorite chocolate milk and cookies. It hurt Vicki even more.
As time passed, she got used to her new life. She did the dirty dishes every morning and cleaned the dining table before leaving for school. Those hours in the classroom were the only peaceful time Vicki had for herself.
She started isolating herself from friends and spent every minute she got for herself. She didn’t like Carla picking her up from school and missed the beautiful rides she enjoyed with her mother. There were no pleasant weekends again. Saturdays and Sundays turned into nightmares for Vicki.Carla and Anna spent their Sundays mostly in elegant restaurants and amusement parks. But they never took Vicki along. Instead, she was tasked with all the household chores.
Carla created a timetable for Vicki’s duties on Sundays. Her day would start with doing the dirty dishes and then cleaning. The smelly rags and leftovers on the dishes disgusted Vicki, but she still did everything without even being taught to do such things. She had to wash and scrub the floor and then rake dry leaves in the garden. Before she could take a break to relax, it would already be past afternoon.
“Everybody must learn to work hard from an early age!” Carla constantly advised Vicki. But she had exempted her own daughter Anna from that piece of wisdom.Anna did nothing at home and always needed Vicki’s help, even to tie her shoelaces or keep her smelly boots on the shoe rack. She was such a lazy girl, and she left no stone unturned in making her cousin’s life miserable.
Vicki had no choice but to obey them. She always returned home from school to deal with some new tantrum Anna threw. But she never complained or brought it to her aunt’s notice. Vicki knew it would be useless because Carla always sided with her daughter.
She continued to put in her best fight every day. She endured her aunt’s stern and cold attitude, but Anna was unbearable, and her hatred for Vicki reached new heights day by day.”These are the dolls my mommy got from Paris. What did you do, Anna?” Vicki cried when she saw Anna had cut the hair off all her beautiful dolls.
“Back off, shorty. Look what I’m going to do to that huge teddy bear you have. It’s in the cellar. Go save it if you can,” Anna wickedly grinned.
Vicki burst into tears and ran into the cellar to find her teddy bear. It was her last gift from her late dad. But once she got down to the basement, Anna locked her inside. She had lied. There was no teddy bear in the cellar, and it was one of her wicked pranks.
“Anna, open the door. Anna, please. I’m scared. It’s dark. Please, open the door,” Vicki cried. But Anna turned a deaf ear and turned on the music to deafen Vicki’s loud cries.
“ANNA… THERE ARE RATS IN HERE. PLEASE, I AM SCARED. OPEN THE DOOR.”
Vicki banged on the door and cried. Her hands hurt, but there was nobody to help her. When Vicki woke up later, she was in her bed. Carla had found her in the cellar after she returned from work. But she neither warned her daughter nor showed any concern for Vicki. She behaved as if it were normal for a kid to play pranks and lock each other in the basement.
The ongoing friction between Anna and Vicki did not end there. Another nightmare was on Vicki’s way that day, and it was so horrible that she had no choice but to reach out to her dead mother for help.
That evening, Anna was already in a terrible mood. “Hey, wash my soiled boots. I have to wear them for horse riding next week.”
Vicki was so exhausted and had been waiting for the break to nap. So she refused to do it. Anna, who hated being turned down, was beyond frustrated.
“How dare you say no to me,” she fumed. She remembered how annoyed Vicki was when she had cut her dolls’ hair. Anna then grabbed Vicki’s long hair and cut it with scissors.
“Anna, what did you do??” Vicki burst into tears and ran to her room. Her long hair was her late mother’s love. “Smooth and silky ocean waves bouncing on your shoulders!” Katie often told Vicki whenever she ruffled her hair. It was gone. Her beautiful hair was trimmed to a mess.
“Mommy, why are aunt Carla and Anna so cruel to me? What did I do? Please, help me, mommy. I cannot live in this house anymore,” Vicki buried her face into her pillow and cried. Then, a strange idea struck her.
“Why didn’t I think of this earlier??” she exclaimed and took a notepad and pen. She began writing a letter to her late mother. “Mommy will read this and help me for sure.” Vicki began spilling her heart out on the paper.
“Dear Mommy, I do not like to live in this home. Aunt Carla, Anna are teribel. They make me do all work. My hands hurting mommy. My nails broke. Anna took scissor and cut my hair. I look ugly. I want to run away far. Roger is in animal shelter. Don’t know where. Aunt Carla sell our home. Our beds, table, flowerpots, paintings all gone. She is not nice mommy. Take me from her. Please mommy. Will you send me letter back? With Love Vicki.”
Vicki tucked the letter addressed “To My Dear Mommy in Heaven” into an envelope and couldn’t wait to post it in the mailbox on the way to her school the next day.The following morning, Vicki left for school after finishing her work. Carla did not drop her as punishment for disobeying Anna. So Vicki had to walk to school, which was pretty close by. She used it to her best advantage and posted the letter in the mailbox. Later that afternoon, after school, she ran to the mailbox to check if her letter had been taken.
“My letter is gone! It’s on the way to mommy!” she jumped in delight. Days passed, but Vicki was yet to get a reply. She was hurt and disappointed. “It must have got lost on the way to heaven. I’ll write another one tonight.”
Despite being seven years old, the circumstances around Vicki did not allow her to differentiate between reality and fantasy. She was heartbroken and felt her only hope was reaching out to her late mother. She penned another letter to her mom and put it in the mailbox the next day. She found the envelope missing again, but nothing happened. No help nor any response arrived.Vicki was distraught but continued posting the letters. At some point, she lost hope of getting an answer. She stopped believing in miracles but never stopped checking out the mailbox daily after school. Deep inside, her heart told her to await a reply.
One day, when Vicki least expected it, she found a letter in the mailbox. It could be for anyone, her mind warned her. But Vicki’s heart told otherwise. She took the letter and was stunned when she saw it was addressed to her.
“To Little Vicki,” read the words on the envelope as Vicki hastily tore it open. The words she read were unbelievable as tears gushed into her eager eyes.
“Hi, Vicki! Your mother cannot write back to you. But you can consider me as her messenger! And I want you to know that you are not alone. I want to help you. I will be waiting near your school gate tomorrow. I will be wearing a gray-blue dress with a postal label. See you soon, and be strong, alright!”
“If it’s not my mommy, then who is this?” Vicki thought disappointedly. She could not wait to see her mother’s messenger.The following day after school, Vicki anxiously stood near the gate, looking around. Then, she noticed a man in a gray-blue suit waving at her.
“Are you the messenger my mommy sent?” she asked as Larry, the local mailman, smiled at her and nodded.
“Not exactly! But I read all your letters,” Larry said, observing the disappointment on Vicki’s face.
“You didn’t see my mommy??” she was disheartened.
“No, I didn’t because we don’t get to see those in Heaven,” Larry added. “We cannot send or receive letters from them. But I’m sure your mother knows everything and worries about you.”
Vicki had never felt so downhearted before. After a momentous silence, Larry said something that lit her teary eyes with a sliver of hope.
“I did not meet your mother, nor do I know her. But I’m sure she sent me to help you. Let’s go to your aunt’s house. She will not mistreat you anymore. Trust me, Vicki.”
Larry’s words felt like the brightest ray of sunshine bursting through a dark cloud. Vicki arrived home with Larry, and Carla was shocked at seeing her with the mailman at the doorstep.
“Why are you so late today? And what’s he doing with you? Do we have any mail today?” she questioned.
“Mrs. Reggie, can we please talk for a minute? There’s something I want to tell you,” Larry chimed in. Carla led him into the living room.
“Yes, what is it?”
“Mrs. Reggie, if you don’t stop ill-treating your niece, I’ll have to call Child Protective Services on you.”
Carla was stunned and stared right into Vicki’s eyes.
“Oh, I don’t understand what you’re saying. I think there’s been a mistake. Vicki was pampered and spoiled by her mother. I just tried to put her on the track by teaching her some manners,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Come on, why would I treat my niece badly? She’s no different from my daughter.”
“Hmmm… See you around, Mrs. Reggie. It was nice meeting you. Take care, Vicki. B-Bye, sweetie. You can always meet me at the post office if there’s anything, alright?”
Vicki nodded, and after Larry left, she witnessed the horrific side of her aunt. It was a hundred times more terrifying than what she’d seen before.”How dare you complain about me to that mailman? You ungrateful little imp,” Carla yelled at Vicki, who wanted to run, but couldn’t. Carla grabbed her hand and dragged her to the dark cellar. She knew Vicki was frightened of darkness and rats and decided to teach her a lesson for disobeying her.
“Stay right here. How ungrateful you are, just like your mother. No bed or blanket until you come crying to me, begging for an apology. Get the hell outta my sight, you dirty imp. You will live in the cellar. It’s your new room. Sleep with the rats until you learn to appreciate me.”
Carla slammed the door shut as Vicki cried and pleaded with her to let her out.
“Aunt Carla, I’m sorry. Please, let me out. I’m scared. It’s dark. I can hear noises down here. Please, it’s scary. Let me out.”
Vicki banged on the door and sat on the stairs, frightened and hungry. She could not stand the moldy smell, and the squeaking rats terrified her. It was dark, and the little brightness that faintly lit the basement was from a beam of light penetrating through a small hole in the door. Vicki pressed her eyes onto it and looked for Carla and Anna. But nobody was there. They were fast asleep in their cozy bedrooms.
“Mommy, please do something. I want to go from here. You always told me stories of miracles. Why is there no miracle to help me, mommy?”
“Ugly little rat… this should teach her a lesson. Let her spend just one night in the cellar, and she will regret messing up with me. I’ll teach her what gratitude is, little imp,” Carla thought and slept, guessing very little about how unforgettable the morning would be for her.
The following day, Vicki woke up to a loud creaking sound. She had fallen asleep on the stairs and rose, thinking her aunt had finally come to take her out. But when the door fully opened, a strange woman was standing there. It was not her aunt.
“Hey, Vicki, can you come out of that darkness on your own, or do you need help?” the lady asked.vVicki slowly got up and crawled her way up the stairs. It was cold down there, and her joints were stiff. She grabbed the woman’s hand and came out, only to see her aunt and cousin answering a Child Protective Service investigator.
As it turned out, Larry knew he could not trust Carla again. So, he had called CPS that morning before leaving for work and had requested them to pay a surprise visit to Carla’s house.
Carla had tried her best to turn the officers away by telling them Vicki was fine and asleep in her room. But they checked the whole house and finally found her locked in the basement. While Carla wanted to teach Vicki a lesson, that one night she locked her in the cellar was enough evidence to deprive her custody of the girl.
The woman then took Vicki away in her car to drop her where she truly deserved to be.
“Where are we going?” Vicki was curious.
“To your new family, sweetie. Your foster family! I’m sure you’ll like them.”
Vicki was surprised by the sudden string of miracles in her life. She could not wait to see who would be her new foster family. Her wait and curiosity ended in the most beautiful way when the car pulled over minutes later.
“IT’S YOU!!” Vicki shouted joyfully and ran toward Larry and his wife, Amanda, who was waving at her from their porch.
“Oh my God, ROGER!!” Vicki shrieked and burst into tears when her dog Roger jumped on her and pushed her onto the grass. He licked her face, and they cuddled and rolled in delight. Larry found and brought Roger home from the animal shelter after reading about him in Vicki’s letter.
Larry and Amanda were moved to tears at seeing such a heartwarming scene. A few months later, they adopted Vicki and introduced her to their other two kids, Shaun and Shelly.
The mailman’s family was not as wealthy as Vicki’s, but their home had abundant joy and love. Meanwhile, Carla tasted her own medicine for wronging her niece. She was sent a court notice for illegally selling Vicki’s house without her consent. She spent her time and age repaying her debts while Vicki moved on from the heavy scars Carla had inflicted on her heart.
Several years passed, and Vicki, now 18, decided to work at Child Protective Services to help children facing domestic neglect. She was determined to fight for their justice and bring them to light from the darkness, just like how she was helped out.