Karly

I died just before Christmas.
But before I died, I was looking forward to Christmas. It’s my favourite time of the year, with the presents, and the food, and family getting together, and the presents, and the food…
Anyway, this Christmas, we were having my Auntie Gem around as usual. Auntie Gem was pregnant with her first child. It was to be a girl, and she was due around Christmas. Auntie Gem was thinking of calling her Kim, like my mum.
Auntie Gem turned up with her bump and her suitcases the day before Christmas Eve. I wondered where her boyfriend, Dan, was, but he’d done a runner when he found out Auntie Gem was pregnant, not wanting to get tied down. The swine.
Two hours before Auntie Gem arrived, my mum, my sister Nelly and I had gone to Asda for our Christmas shopping. Lots of chocolate, crisps, nuts, and did I mention chocolate?
We’d come home and was stashing our shopping away, when Mum gasped.
“I’ve forgotten the crackers!!!” She practically screamed.
“What, crackers for cheese?” I asked.
She nodded.
“How could you?” I joked. “Don’t worry, I’ll go back down Asda and get them.”
“Are you sure?” Mum asked.
“Yeah, course.”
I collected the money from Mum and set off. And then, as I was crossing the road, some twat came hurtling around the corner at sixty miles per hour. The last thing I remember was the car zooming towards me, the horn blaring…

My daughter died the same day my sister gave birth. The day before Christmas Eve.
We’d been Christmas shopping, but I’d forgotten the crackers for cheese, so Karly had offered to go back down. While she was gone, my sister Gem turned up. But she hadn’t walked through the door, when her waters broke, and I had to drive her to the hospital.
While I was in the waiting room, a doctor came up to me.
“Are you related to Miss Gem Fox?”
I nodded. “I’m her sister, Kim Fox.”
“Is Karly Fox related to you as well?”
“Yes, she’s my daughter, but it’s my sister Gem I’ve brought in. Her waters broke.”
“No, I’ve been sent from A&E. We’ve been trying to get hold of you for about an hour. And when we found out a Miss Gem Fox had been brought in to the Maternity Ward, I was sent to find out if she was related. It’s your daughter, Karly, Miss Fox. She was involved in a hit-and-run. I’m sorry, we did all we could. But she didn’t make it.”
After I was told my Karly had died, Gem gave birth to my niece, who she named Karly, after my daughter. The happiness I felt for my sister was masking the grief I felt for my poor baby. After the day was over, I cried myself to sleep. I couldn’t believe she’d died, she was only thirteen. The pain stayed with me for a few months.

When I woke up, it was quite early on the day before Christmas Eve. Five past eight. I was excited, because that meant we were going to Auntie Kim’s today. I lay in bed for awhile, thinking about the dream I just had. In my dream, Auntie Kim was my mum, and she’d sent me to Asda to buy some crackers for cheese she’d forgotten. On the way, I was hit and killed. Also in my dream, my mum was pregnant, and she gave birth to a girl who had my name. It was a really weird dream. Plus it was one I had nearly every night.
I got up, showered, got dressed, and went downstairs for my morning cup of hot chocolate. Mum was already up, drinking her cup of coffee.
“Morning, Princess,” she smiled.
I smiled back, and made my drink. Then I told my mum about my dream.
“…And the weird thing is, I’ve dreamt it before,” I finished. I noticed the look on Mum’s face. It was pale.
“What? What’s wrong, Mum?”
Mum looked at me, a scared look on her face. She took a drag on her fag, and she said:
“You had a cousin. Karly. She was called Karly. Your Auntie Kim’s daughter, when she was thirteen, your age, she was hit and killed. It was on the same day you were born. That’s why you’re called Karly. You were named after her.”
I was shocked. I knew I had a cousin who’d died years ago, but I didn’t know that much about her. “How come I’ve never heard about this before?”
I don’t like to talk about her much. It brings the pain back. For me and your Auntie Kim. She was exactly like you. Smart, funny, pretty, everyone liked her.” Mum finished her fag an popped it in the ashtray. “I fancy another coffee.”
“Oh, there’s no more milk,” I said.
“Oh bother.”
“It’s okay. I’ll pop to the corner shop, and get some more.”
“You’re a sweet girl. Just take a fiver out of my purse.”
I took a fiver out of Mum’s purse, and made my way outside to the corner shop. To get to it, I had to cross the road. I looked left, I looked right. The road was clear so I crossed. Then, out of nowhere, a car came hurtling towards me at sixty miles per hour, it’s horn blaring…

The owner of the corner shop’s wife was having a baby. The day before Christmas Eve, her waters broke, and she gave birth to a girl.
A girl called Karly…