Jack O' Lanterns, Moonlight, and Magic
By
Rebecca Anna Coleman
Chapter One: Spirit of Halloween
I've often been mistaken for a girl, unlike the rest of my family, I've somehow inherited my mothers strawberry blonde hair and her porcelain skin tone. My frame is also kind of slender, slender arms, and a narrow waist and a bit too wide in the hips, I also tend to keep my hair long, often I wear it pulled back in a low ponytail. My name is Willow Rowan Whitethorn. I was named Willow, because according to my mom who is a self proclaimed green witch, she had a vision of a willow tree growing by a river when she found that she was pregnant with me.
The middle name Rowan was chosen to honor my godfather who was also my uncle. And the surname Whitethorn is the family name. I live in an area of Yazoo County that is called “The Haunted Hollow” by the locals. My clan, that is to say the Whitethorn family is scattered all about the hollow. I mean, I live just a piece up the road from my cousin Cerridwen Circe Whitethorn. A piece is about a quarter of a mile in Southern Lexicon.
Of all my cousins, aunts, and uncles, I'm closest to Aunt Pandora and Uncle Rowan. I sometimes help Aunt Pandora and her daughter Cerridwen in their small, tiny herb garden and when it comes harvest the vegetables from their fields. I also help Uncle Rowan with his many household chores. For my efforts I often find my pockets freshly lined with silver.
It was also Aunt Pandora and Uncle Rowan who first urged my mother and father to enroll me at Benton Academy. I think their reason was because they saw a spark in me and they even offered to help cover part of the cost of the tuition. Soon other members of the Whitethorn clan took up the call and decided to pitch in what they could afford too. And so my seventh grade year at Benton Junior High School was to be the last year I spent in the Public School System and my current year the eighth grade was to the first one I spent attending a private school.
Anyway, my story starts around the last part of October. The blistering hot, and humid dog days of August had slipped on by, and the first taste of Autumn that normally comes around late September had developed into a period of time we southerners call “Autumn Proper” ; the days were shorter and the nights were longer. The air was cooler. The leaves on the trees had turned bright hues of orange and red.
It was on one such afternoon, about a few days before Halloween that I found myself riding my bike down the red and brown paved brick main street of Benton. Now, like most smallish, I say smallish cause Benton was starting to grow, but like most things in Mississippi growth in both commerce and population comes slowly to the once small hamlets that have grown from hamlets to villages, and from villages villages to towns and from towns to cities. And while in it's two hundred and forty year history, Benton had grown from it's tiny seedling start as sleepy river front settlement that had been settled in a 'S' bend of the Big Black River, to humble river port hamlet, to bustling river port, to now a somewhat thriving city with both rail and river connection, it still retained some of the characteristics of it's early pioneer days. You know back when Mississippi was the just admitted into the Union.
Such as many of the older sections of town, sections of town that had been built by the first settlers to this area, still retained brick paved streets, a trolley, yes, you heard me right a trolley, still ran through these older sections, mainly Croft Street, Wilson Street, Madison, Washington, Jefferson, and Custard.
And of course the whole length of main street that was the beating heart of Benton. And most of the town's businesses were located on Main Street as well. Well most of the mom and pop owned businesses. The big box retailers and fast food chains were all located along the highway.
Anyway as I rode my bike through the heart of the business district, I noticed that the concrete sidewalks were almost deserted. And both sides of the street seemed almost void of cars. Normally on a Saturday afternoon both sides of the street would be filled to the brim with cars and the sidewalks on both sides of the street would be crowded with people. Even the parking lot of Sunflower, the friendly neighborhood grocery store, seemed empty. Even the town's post office seemed void of foot traffic.
None of this though seemed to really bother me in the least bit as I had other more pressing concerns that were gnawing at me. Halloween you see was only a week and a half away and I still needed to get a costume. And my choices of where to buy a costume were very limited. You see in Benton you had only a handful of shops that bothered to sell Halloween Costumes, the first I could name off the top of my head was Potter Mercantile, a large general store that was the mainstay of downtown. One that had been owned and operated by the Potter family for five or six generations at this point.
Up next was Super 10, a local chain of discount stores that were all owned and operated by the Burns Family. The Burns family operated twelve stores in total. Five were located right here in Mississippi, Five were located across the Mississippi River in Louisiana and two were located in Alabama. Up next was Rose's, another local discount store that had moved into the old Fred's Dollar Store building right after the company had shuttled. The closest one to me was Potter Mercantile, the furthest one way was Rose's. Of all those, I figured the most logical place to start my search would be Potter Mercantile, though I was sure the picking would slim.
I was just about to make up my mind when I noticed out of the corner of my eye a new store. Where a few weeks ago there had been nothing more than an old, empty cotton warehouse was now a brand new store that I've never seen before. It seemed the old warehouse had been given a new coat of paint. Instead of the old, fading gray color it had been freshly painted a glossy black. The old, broken windows had been replaced with new windows and the once trash filled parking lot that was a minefield of broken beer, gin, whiskey, and soda bottles had been swept clean as a whistle.
And over the door a large, orange sign had been put up. In the center of the sign were the words. “Spirit Of Halloween. And above the words was a picture of a skeleton phantom wearing a tattered black robe with a tattered pointed hood pointing upward. Two orbs of glowing reddish light seemed to burn in the hollowed out socket that once housed his eyes.
“Wow.” I said blushing as I brought my bike to a halt. This caused a wave of gravel, sand, and dirt to spray in all directions.
“This place is insane,” I said as I dismounted my bike and pushed it toward a nearby bike rack. I quickly pushed the bike into the rack and secured it with a good length of chain and a padlock. My bike was quickly one of my most prized possessions. It was a powder blue Schwinn with a wire basket in front and one in back. Sure it was a bit on the girly side but that did not bother me a bit. I mean I was androgynous enough to pass for a girl. And given the way I was dressed today, jeans, sneakers, and a pink Team Realtree Hoodie I could easily pass for a tomboy.
“Well...” I said reaching up and removing the pastel blue bike helmet from my head. I placed it in the wire basket and smiled. “Let's see what we can find.”
And with that I started to walk toward the newly painted doors of the old warehouse. Little did I know at the time that I was going to set into motion a series of events that would fall like dominoes.
Jack O' Lanterns, Moonlight, and Magic
By
Rebecca Anna Coleman
Chapter Two: The Perfect Costume
The moment I pushed open the door and stepped into the shop was the moment I felt like I'd been transported to a macabre wonderland. Racks of costumes and masks as far as the eye could see. Scattered around the sales floor were macabre animatronics in the form of moving witches with green skin, long, hooked noses with straw like hair. Robotic werewolves leaned and howled. Fake blood oozed down the wall. And a loud cackle echoed through the store.
At the far back I could see a few plastic trees that were covered with faux like spiderwebs. Large, plastic, black spiders were scattered around these webs. The bark on the trees were dark brown and in some cases black. The leaves on the trees were also brown and black with mold. The branches were twisted and hung low. Under the branches one could find dozens of fake, plastic tombstones. That was one side of the store, one corner. Right across from it in the other corner of the store was a kind of haunted swamp.
I was lost for words. I was over the moon. Being the youngest member in my extended family, I'd been gifted dozens of dog eared paper novels, many of them were Goosebumps novels, those seemed to have been really popular when my many aunts and uncles were learning to read. And you could get them for about a dollar a pop from the Methodist Second Hand store. I'd also grown to love Fear Street because unlike the tame Goosebumps stories the horror was always more realistic and unlike Goosebumps you could always count on somebody getting murdered in slasher like fashion in Fear Street.
I was also a fan of Are You Afraid of The Dark? That cult classic of Nickelodeon. So I was really digging the creepy, spooky mood of the store.
“This is so cool!” I said blushing as I started to walk toward the haunted graveyard section. It was that moment I felt something touch my shoulders. I quickly spun around and there standing behind me was a woman, who was a good head or two taller than me. She had pretty blue eyes and pretty blonde hair. She wore a form fitting shirt and a pair of jeans. A name badge in the shape of a pumpkin had the name “Lily Potter” printed on it. And below that was printed “Shift Leader”.
“Hello.” The blonde haired woman said to me as she peered at me. “Welcome to the Spirit of Halloween. I'm the Shift Leader here, Lily Sarah Potter. How may I help you today?” She said in a gentle tone of voice that reminded me of Cerridwen for a moment. Just her manors that all.
“Oh I'm looking for a costume.” I said blushing a little. Lily seemed to mentally measure me.
“Oh?” Lily said, folding her hands behind her back as she leaned forward. “Are you looking for something girly? Or are looking for something kind of tomboyish. Because we have costumes for everybody.”
“Oh cool..” I said, “I'm kind of looking for a costume that is kind, cute, and kind of alluring. We're kind of having an autumn dance at school. And I kind of need a costume that kind of cute, flirty.. and something that won't get me kicked out or hauled the coach's office to get told off.” I said, forcing a laugh.
“Oh..” Lily said, smiling. “What school do you go to?”
I shifted my eyes away from Lily and softly I said.
“I go to Benton Academy, where they have their yearly Halloween Carnival. And well, I think Halloween is the kind of perfect time of the year to show everybody who I really am inside.” I said as I peered toward Lily who was swaying from one side to the other.
“Oh cool.” Lily said, smiling. “Well take your time and look around and tell me if you want to try something on.” And with that Lily turned around and started to walk away. Leaving me along with my thoughts. And free to wander around the store.
And so taking a deep breath I started to walk around the store. I wanted to find that perfect costume. The one that would truly express who I was inside. And so I started to think about what kind of costume would best suit me. Like what colors would go well with hair color? And what colors would match my eyes. And what seemed like the most pressing concern to me, how the fabric of the costume would feel.
I was mindful of how much money I had in my pocket. Halloween costumes are not cheap, and a good costume would take a good chunk out of your pocket book. I knew I had around a hundred and twenty dollars in bills, my old leather wallet and a few hundred more in my checking account that I could access with my visa checking card.
Finally, I found something that seemed to leap out at me. It appeared to be a bridal dress that had seen better days. It was tattered and a bit short. It was also strapless or the picture implied. The veil was tattered in the end and the bridal gloves seemed tattered at the end.
“Wow..” I said blushing as I reached out and picked the package off the hook. I don't know why I was blushing, but as I held the plastic package in my hand I felt a vision of me wearing it, wearing it and turning all the heads of the boys at the dance. I found myself wanting to be the center of their attention to be the center of their world. I found myself wanting to flirt with them, to maybe even see how it would feel to kiss them. I wanted to see how their lips would taste. And then a thought popped into my head that made my jaw drop. I wanted to know how it would feel to hold their balls in my hand, to play with them.
At this point my face was so red I was sure clouds of steam would be pouring out of my ears. My blood started to boil. I knew I had to try this costume on. The size said the costume would fit all girls size “Small” whatever that meant.
“Hey!” A loud, clearly female voice called behind me! “Find something you want?” I nearly fumbled the costume and dropped it out of my hand. The voice startled me.
“Yes ma'am!” I said, turning to see Lily smiling at me.
“Oh! That one, going for broke I see. You know it's not really strapless cause it comes with these clear straps that hold up the front of the dress. Normally you can't see them but sometimes you can.” Lily then paused and shifted her eyes away from me.
“Here!” She said as she reached over and picked up a costume that was almost the same only this one was not strapless. The dress was still a bridal dress. But a more modern updated version than the one I was holding in my hand. It still looked like it had seen better days though.
It also had sleeves, puffy, bell shaped sleeves. I felt my cheeks starting to blush, the girl on the front of the package looked around the same age as me. The woman on the first package looked several years older than me.
“It has a low cut bodice so it's kind of sexy. And trust me this will drive all the boys wild. Most girls will stick to either Vampires, Princesses, or Cheerleaders. Some people are daring and go for devil girls and such. But few will go as a ghost bride.” Lily said.
I started to shift my weight from one side of my body to the other.
“Mind if I try it on?” I said, smiling a little.
Lily smiled and then reached down and took her hand into my hand.
“Of course!” Lily said, smiling as she guided to a small walled off area. There I found two doors. The doors kind of looked like the doors you would find at a hospital. Or maybe they had been painted to look like the doors you find at a hospital. A bright neon sign above the two doors read. “Operation Ward” and a bloody handprint had been painted on the part of the door that was supposed to be glass.
“Okay!” I said blushing a little as I pushed open the door. I was a bit crestfallen. The small, square room the door led to was nothing more than a small, square room with the only furnishing being a full floor length mirror and a metal folding chair.
Still blushing, I started to remove my hoodie first, followed by the pink, Sailor Moon graphic t-shirt that had been brought to me as a gag gift from Forever Twenty. Sailor Moon was my favorite anime, and while I'd fringed indifference at the gag gift. I'd secretly been over the moon. No pun intended.
Anyway once the hoodie was removed, I removed my Sailor Moon graphic t-shirt, and then my jeans and finally my shoes and socks, leaving me in just my boxers. And then a strange thought popped into my head. I should be wearing a bra and panties. Maybe some lace bridal set bra and panties.
I pushed those thoughts out of my head and then slowly I slipped on the dress. I was amazed the dress seemed to mold itself to my body. I felt that blush starting to rise again as I slipped on the gloves and reached up and removed the hairband holding my hair in its ponytail. A cascade of reddish hair flowed down my back. A few seconds later I fixed the veil. Then taking a deep breath I turned around and faced the mirror.
“This is me..” I said blushing. “This is me..”
At that moment it felt like somebody had flipped a light switch. And the moment they flipped that switch was the moment a tiny light bulb above my head buzzed into life. Halloween, like I said before, is the perfect holiday to step out of your comfort zone. It's also the perfect holiday to show the world who you really are inside. Maybe the only holiday. I can not tell you what drew me to the costume I selected. I can only tell you another event had been set into motion.
And so ends another chapter.
Jack O' Lanterns, Moonlight, and Magic
By
Rebecca Anna Coleman
Chapter Three: The Next Move
Had I'd known I'd opened Pandora's Box at Spirit Halloween, I'd hasten to close it. But at the time I had no idea that I'd opened it. To me the costume was just a costume, but as so often the case with me, it was the first hint of things to come. After concluding my business there I turned toward home and around early afternoon I found myself turning into the driveway. The first thing I noticed was mom's car was gone and so was dad's truck.
Now, I'm sure my mom and dad would have been fine with me buying a Halloween costume that was meant for a girl. My dad was an easy going fellow and nothing really bothered him. Well the lack of rain was bothering him and the fact the fish weren't biting really bothered him, but that's a different story. And mom, well after her nephew turned out to be her niece she had to take a good hard look at herself. She was also a nurse, so she pretty much accepted all kinds and types of people.
Anyway both were gone. And so I walked my bike around the house and locked it up tightly in the shed. And then removing my newly bought costume from the wire basket I entered into the house through the backdoor. The house was dark as expected and warm. Slowly I closed the door behind me and locked it. Once it was locked I started to walk toward the kitchen. There on the wooden table I found a note.
The note read as followed;
Willow,
I'll be working a double tonight at the hospital. We are short staffed and we could use the extra money. There is frozen pizza in the freezer and left over meatloaf in the fridge. Dad was told to go to Memphis on business. No idea when he'll be back. You will find a list of chores he wants you to do on your desk. Also on your computer desk you will find an envelope with your normal weekly allowance. Also Aunt Pandora dropped off another envelope for you. She told me it's your wages for the last two weeks of helping her and cousin Cerridwen around the house and in the herb garden. Both of the envelopes contain cash money. So you don't need to worry about going to the bank. As always you can call me on my phone if you need anything. Daddy forgot his phone again.
Be good, and remember Aunt Pandora and Uncle Rowan are only a piece up the road if you need them. Love you.
Mom.
PS.
Don't forget to feed the feral cats. You will find the kitty feed in the hot water closet in the box marked with 'Kitty feed'. Remember one cup per cat. And remember Sparta is expecting kittens soon. She is the orange cream colored cat with yellow eyes. The one with the pink collar. So give her three cups of food. I should be home tomorrow morning around five or six. If you have breakfast ready I'll add an extra seven dollars to your next allowance packet. - Mom.
I blinked, you see for generations there has been a colony of feral cat's that have made the Hollow their home. The Whitethorn Clan, that to say my large extended family had taken them in and each member fed them and tried their best to provide some form of shelter. The cat's kept down mice that often feasted on the gardens many of us kept.
Anyway, first thing first. The first thing I did was put the costume safety into my room. Well I gently hung it up in my closet. The second thing I did was go into the hot water closet and there I found a cardboard box that had “Kitty Feed” written across the front in black marker.
Inside the box, I found a large bag of cat food. Shrugging my shoulders I used an earthenware pitcher I found inside the bag. Once the pitcher was filled with brown, and yellow pellets I walked outside and filled up several plastic feed bowls with the brown and yellow looking pellets. A moment later, a massive collection of cats in all colors came out from the tree line. Shrugging my shoulders again I stepped back inside.
As I slid the screen door shut, I heard a loud chorus of meows, and hisses and other cat-like noises. Including fighting. Dad said cats were good for only three things; fucking, fighting, and hunting. Mom said they kept ghosts away, dad said they attracted ghosts. Neither could agree on their usefulness but both agreed that they needed to be fed, sheltered and taken care of.
Of course we had a local animal shelter in town, and of course the right thing to do would be to put all the feral cats in the local animal shelter or get them fixed. But here the thing is, the colony was massive, nobody knew how many cats had settled in the many hidden glens, hollows, creek bottoms and hillsides of the Hollow. Those cats had been here since the Whitethorn Clan had first settled the Hollow and would remain here as long as the Whitethorn Clan remained firmly rooted here. Anyway, enough talk about cats.
Anyway once the cats were fed, I decided I needed to get something to eat. Pizza seemed like the most logical choice here, so shrugging my shoulders I went into the freezer and pulled out a small, square box of pizza. It seemed Totino's Pizza was on the lunch menu. For those who do not know, Totino's is an American brand of frozen pizza. The pizzas normally come in a square shape, the cheese is not really cheese and the meat is not really meat. But they are cheap and mom can buy them in bulk from Sam's Club so that is a plus. It normally takes three to get me full, but today I settled on two.
As I pulled open the pizzas from their plastic wrapper, I started to think. What was I going to do with myself tonight? I mean what could I do? I normally spent my Saturday Night's at home. Normally I would get a short cat-nap in the afternoon so I could stay up all hours of the night watching anime on Adult Swim.
But that seemed so anti-social. Instead I decided I should go out tonight.. there was this old skating rink. The skating rink was located on a two lane concrete road. The road was broken to hell and back, shattered and broken like the many dreams of the people who lived on the road. The road ran through the woods, both sides of the woods were thick with the trees growing so close together that wind could not blow between the trunks. Even the rays of the morning sun could not shine between them.
The road also ran past abandoned farms, and overgrown cow ponds, those were ponds that had been dug by the hill-cattleman they were once used to water their herds of hill cattle. Sometimes they were even used for fishing; most had once been stocked with bass, perch, and maybe even catfish. Adding a bit of color to the whole scene were a few old, run down gas stations that had clearly seen better days.
Most of these gas stations were old wooden or brick buildings.
“That's something boy Willow would do.” I said taking a deep breath as I dialed the toaster oven to three hundred and fifty degrees. “Boy Willow would stay home, and stay up all night watching anime. Girl Willow would go out and explore the world.” I said reaching into the toaster oven I quickly pulled out the metal tray that was inside the oven and without giving it much though I tossed the two pizzas into the tray and pushed it back into the oven.
“Why am I thinking about what Girl Willow would do anyway?!” I muttered as I eased my bottom down into a wooden chair. I heaved a deep sigh and fixed my eyes on the ceiling above me. “Plus it's not like I have anything she could wear! Save that costume.”
As I watched the fake cheese on top of the pizza start to melt and brown, the gears inside my head started to turn. I hear them turning. And that was a bit frightening. Soon the smell of overly salted pepperoni cubes starting to brown filled the air along with the smell of fake, plastic cheese starting to brown and that smell made my mouth start to water.
“I guess, I guess I could 'borrow' some clothes from mom.” I mutter aloud. That's right, I would borrow something from mom's closet. Mom and I were about the same height, we weighed about the same. And sometimes she was even mistaken for my big sister. And I was sure mom would have something in her closet I could 'borrow' for a night on the town.
“I guess I could also 'borrow' some of mom's make-up and perfume too..” At that moment the oven dinged and I knew the pizza was done. And so allowing my mind to roam, I pulled on an oven mitts and pulled out the tray. Two, square pizzas greeted me. The plastic cheese had melted and in some spots had turned brown. And the small cubes of pepperoni had also browned. The crust though still seemed white as lard.
“Maybe I should borrow her razor and stuff too.” I mused aloud as I scooped the two pizzas up and placed them atop one another. Then with my pepperoni pizza sandwich in hand, I started toward the table. I eased my plate down and went once more toward the fridge, This time to fetch a ice cold root beer. After all, root beer goes hand and hand with pizza.
“I think I'll do that.” I said, smiling a little. “What mom won't know won't hurt her.” I then bowed my head and in a sing-song type of voice I said.
“Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise him, all creatures here below, Praise him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.” I paused and then lifted my eyes toward the sky. I walked in two faiths: the old pagan faith of my father and the Anglican faith of my mother. My mother had been a Croft before she had married my father. And the Crofts to one were Anglican. And yet my mother had not only kept her Anglican Faith but had blended it with my father's old pagan faith.
And so my prayer before the meal said, my food blessed I started to eat my heart attack on a plate!And so another chapter came to an end.
Jack O' Lanterns, Moonlight, and Magic
By
Rebecca Anna Coleman
Chapter Four: The First Steps into Girlhood
Mom kept most of her extra clothing in the closet of the guest bedroom. The guest bedroom was mom's retreat from the outside world. It was also supposed to be the room of the little sister I never got. The walls of the room were painted a light pink color and the bed located in the middle was an old fashion white canopy bed that was befitting a princess. I think it was my mom's old bed. The sheets and covers were white and white lacy hung down all around it.
Across the bed was a matching white vanity. With an overstuffed white stool sitting in front of the mirror. I felt my cheeks starting to fill with color as I stepped into the room and gently closed the door behind me. I could not help feeling like I was trespassing by being here. And yet, I felt like I belonged here. I felt like this should have been my room. This should have been the room I'd grown up in.
I forced myself to push those thoughts from my head as I started to inch my way toward the dresser that sat beside the white vanity. Slowly I pulled open the vanity. This is going to sound silly, but I felt like Indiana Jones as I got down on my knees and pulled open the drawer. Once the drawer was open I reached in and pulled out a lacy white bra with matching panties. I placed those to the side. One lesson I learned from listening to my mother talk to my cousin Cerridwen was that a young lady always tried her best to match the color of her bra with the color of her panties. The lesson stuck with me, and I knew if I was going to pass as girl Willow I needed to match.
“Okay that's done.” I said, taking a deep breath. “Now to get the other parts of the outfit together.” And so with that I started to walk toward the closet. As I pulled upon the closet door I discovered racks on racks of silken blouses, dresses, skirts and at the bottom shoes of all kinds. It was a verbal wonderland.
“I'm lost.” I said, taking a deep breath. It was then and there that it dawned on me how much I was totally over my head. Girls had years of learning how to dress and act from their mothers, aunts, and big sisters. Girls learn by mimicking other girls.
But then something clicked inside me. And without thinking I reached up and selected a frilly, cotton blouse. The color was a kind powder blue color. I blushed a little, it felt so soft to the touch. I quickly pulled the blouse down and tossed it down on the bed. The next thing I found was a pink, pastel pink skirt. It felt right so I tossed the skirt onto the bed right next to the blouse. The next item I put my hands on were a pair of leather boots. Now, any good southern girl worth her salt always owned a pair of leather boots. If you were going to wear a skirt in autumn you needed to pair it with a pair of leggings and boots for warmth.
“One last thing..” I said blushing as I pushed the clothes aside and by luck I ran across a powder blue hoodie. Perfect! Tonight was supposed to be a bit on the chilly side and wanted to keep warm. I furrowed my eyebrow for a moment though. I would need something to keep my personal things in. The skirt did not have a pocket, one of the drawbacks to wearing a skirt I suppose.
“I'm going to need a purse.” I said blushing as I once more reached into the closet. And count my lucky stars. Inside the closet located toward the back of the thing I found a small, faux black leather purse. It was perfect. It just screamed demure.
My outfit picked out. I started to move toward the bathroom. Now, our humble cottage has two bathrooms. One was called the 'Guys' bathroom. It was kind of the bathroom me and my dad used. That one had a shower. And the other one we called the 'Queen' bathroom because that was the one my mom used. It had a claw tub. The 'Guys' bathroom was painted blue and often smelled of soap and Old Spice. The 'Queen' bathroom was painted pink and often smelled of perfume, cherry blossoms, strawberries, and vanilla spice. It was here mom worked her magic. It was here she kept all her make-up and beauty supplies.
Now, I was free to use any bathroom I wanted. But as a rule of thumb I'd stuck to using the 'Guys' bathroom. Because I always thought the 'Queen' Bathroom along with the guest bedroom belonged to mom Anyway I felt like I was trespassing as I walked into the pastel pink bathroom. I quickly pushed those thoughts from my mind as I stripped myself of the light cotton sleeping pants and light cotton sleeping shirt.
“I'm just a teenage girl.” I muttered under my breath. “Who is leaving her tomboy phase behind her.” I added. “I don't own any of this stuff. I'm just borrowing mom's stuff. She won't know anything. I'll put everything back in place. I'll clean up super well behind myself. Nobody would know I'm here.”
And with that I turned on the tap, filling the tub with steaming hot water. I blushed as I felt the steam of the water coming off the water. Once the tub was halfway filled with water, I turned of the tap and climbed in and settling in was long drawn out of progress of sighing and hissing. Once I'd settled in I laid back and allowed the warmth of the water to wash over me.
“This is heaven.” I muttered to myself. I paused. “I need to shave my legs.” I said smiling a little as I reached over and picked up a pink and white Venus Gillette razor. By the razor I found a bottle of pink and white Gillette shaving foam. Blushing, I dipped my legs in the water and then carefully I started to shave my legs till they were smooth as silk. Then I decided for good measure to shave my nether region and for extra good measure the hair under my arms. And I even tried to tackle the hair on my chest and everywhere I could reach with the tiny razor.
The fair hairs of my arm, chest, under my arms melted away like snow that was facing the first breath of spring. I was surprised to see the tiny, but powerful blades of the razor cut through the fine hairs how mother's scythe cut through stubborn vines and weeds that tried to choke her vegetable garden patch.
Once that was done. I reached up and picked up a green bottle of shampoo. The front of the bottle showed a mango and a coconut and a few strawberries. I don't know what I was expecting, but the shampoo looked more like a tropical fruit smoothie than shampoo. And the moment I started to scrub it into my hair was the moment I could smell all the scents.
I was in heaven. Everything seemed so refreshing, everything was new. I felt like I was being reborn. The warm water felt so rejuvenating that I did not want to leave the tub. I just wanted to mellow and spend all night soaking in the warm water. But slowly, I forced myself to climb out of the tub. It was then I caught sight of myself. The reflection in the mirror showed a young preteen. A very androgynous preteen but a very pretty one.
“Wow.” I said blushing a little.
“I could really pass as a girl.” I said as I turned around to admire myself in the mirror. “Sure I'm flat as a piece of wood. But I'm sure a little padding could solve that problem.” I said out loud.
I knew from some whispered conversations I'd been privy to. By merit of being in the same room while they were taking place, they made such padding and women of all shapes, and sides knew little tricks and cheats to enhance their figure. My mom called them “Tricks of the Trade”. But I had no way of going to such shops. And if I did it would look weird for me to just waltz in there and buy such items.
“Google.” I said, smiling a little. “I will pray to Saint Google the Defender of the Internet.” I said as a smile morphed into a smirk. And so I made up my mind. I would venture out tonight as a girl. And I would make an effort to dress like a girl, to get 'Dolled' up as my mother would say. I only wish I had my mother here with me, helping me, guiding me, offering her wisdom and drawing upon her experiences. I guess that what made women different from men, women helped other women become better women, they offered freely their own advice, wisdom, and provided counsel to each other. Men on the other hand never really offered a fellow man any advice or wisdom.
“I think tonight will be a magical night.” I said as I wrapped a pink towel around me. And then I started to walk toward my room. I had some research to do. I felt the more I knew, the clearer this strange feeling that was nagging at the corner of my mind would become. I could not put my finger on that nagging feeling, but I knew I had to do some research into it. I also knew I had to do research into being a girl.. I also knew I had only three hours, maybe four tops to get ready.
And so with the tiny grains of sand slowly running out of my hour glass. I breathed one more prayer to the patron saint of all wayfaring travelers of the internet. 'Saint Google the Defender of the Internet' and for added measure. I breathed a prayer to the Goddess of the Moon. I figured between the two, somebody would take up the cause to help me.
Jack O' Lanterns, Moonlight, and Magic
by
Rebecca Anna Coleman
Chapter Five: A Sudden Change of Plans
There is an old saying that folks in Mississippi are fond of throwing around. The saying goes like this “In Mississippi if you don't like the weather. Stick around it would change in five minutes.” And well while the day had started out pleasant enough. By sunset things had well changed. A storm had brown up. And the rain was coming down in sheets, thick rain drops bounced off the ground. And the wind was blowing so strong I could see waves forming on the pond behind the house.
Speaking of the pond, water was just gushing through the overflow pipe. The sight of that alone caused my fingers to tremble and my blood to run cold. The old black and red weather radio my dad kept on the kitchen countertop sparkled to life and the local weather station was predicting record breaking rainfall.
And well I just stood there in the kitchen, looking out the window, pouting as I watched the rain come down at a slant. My dad had been bitching about the lack of rain, now he would be bitching about having too much rain as I watched the torrent wash away his garden and send what plants that had climbed through the harsh summer get washed down the hill. And well I was mad.. I had wanted to dance the night away.
You see, I'd been entertaining visions of spinning around the dance floor wearing swishy skirts, flirting shamelessly with all the boys. Of sitting on a wooden bench sandwiched between two, handsome country boys dressed in flannel shirts and jeans. All of them fawned over me, hand feeding me slices of greasy pizza and rubbing my leg with their rough hands and squeezing my shoulder.
“Fuck.” I said, taking a deep breath. “Looks like I'm staying inside tonight.”
And with that being said I turned around and peered around the kitchen. “I guess.. It's Adult Swim night tonight.” I said, sighing.
A few seconds later I found myself walking back into the guest bedroom. And once more I found myself digging through the closet. I was a bit disappointed that the flirty top and swishy skirt that paired with legging and boots would have to wait for another day I'd decided to go with instead a flannel night gown. A flannel nightgown, with my hair tied back in pigtails and twisted into braids.
After a few fruitless minutes of searching I finally found what I needed. An old fashioned flannel nightgown. At this point the rain had turned to sleet. And one quick out the guest bedroom window told me it was going one hell of a night. Ice pellets were bouncing off the ground. One minute it was raining and now it was sleeting.
Anyway, I slipped out of the outfit I was wearing and slipped into the old fashioned flannel nightgown. I then walked into the kitchen. It seemed frozen pizza was on the menu again tonight. Really I wished mom would invest in something beside frozen pizza. Well.. I mean I could have thawed something up. But that would have effort, and effort was something I was lacking right now.
And so once I'd slipped the nightgown over my head. I felt like somebody had flipped a mental switch. I loved the way the flannel felt. Now, the crowning piece of furniture in the croom was an old vanity. Sitting upon the surface of the vanity was a old fashioned comb. SlowlyI picked up the comb and started to brush my hair. It took me ten blissful minutes to complete the required one hundred and fifty strokes to transform my hair into silk.
Once I'd achieved that silky feeling. Once I was finished brushing out my hair I pulled open the drawer of the vanity and looked inside. And much to my amazement and joy I found a stunning collection of hair ribbons, clips, Victorian style hair combs, hair claws, and finally a metal hair roller.
With nimble fingersI styled two sections of my hair into pigtails and then I twisted those two sections into two perfectly braided sections of hair. Once that was done I walked into the kitchen, once I walked into the kitchen I went into the freezer and pulled out a frozen pizza. This was a more meal size pizza.
I preheated the oven and once it dinged I slid the pizza into the oven. According to the back of the box, it would take around fifteen to twenty two minutes for the thing to cook. And so while the pizza cooked I started to roam around the house, you know checking on things and making sure everything was secure.
Anyway, once the pizza was done, I slipped on an oven mit and opened the door. Once the oven door was open I used the oven mit to pull out the iron rack and then I slipped the pizza on a cutting board. I then sliced it into slices and peered at it.
Anyway the dinner was cooked, and so I decided to take two ibuprofen, which I washed down with a can of Great-Value Root Beer and then well I decided to eat. At this point the sleet had turned to snow and the snow was starting to stick. And as expected all eighteen of the feral cats were bedding down on the front porch. And the reason I was taking ibuprofen? Because I felt a fever coming on.
“I wonder if the Goddess had saved me tonight.” I muttered under my breath. “I wonder if this crazy weather was all part of her plans..” Now mom had raised me in the proud traditions of the Wiccan Faith. I mean it seemed our whole neighborhood was Wiccan.
Pizza finished, I tossed my empty plate into the dishwasher and smiled.
Once last check around the house, you know, making sure all the feral cats were bedded down, and snuggling together in their make-shift animal houses mom had made for them, windows locked, door locked, stove off. Teeth brushed and then it was time to settle down to watch hour after hour of brain rotting anime.
Starting off this anime marathon was Higurashi, that famous anime where one of the main characters goes a little off the rails and kills the others before killing themselves. Oh and they're forced to relive the events that lead them going off the rails. Because they're trapped in an endless loop of slaughter, fan-service, and insanity. After a dozen or so episodes of that we have Dragon Ball Z, an anime about boys, who like watching muscle bound apes beating the tar out of each other.
A few episodes of that brings us to Sailor Moon.. Girls in cute Sailor Style Uniforms beat the tar out of the monster of the week. After another dozen episodes of that we come to Gakkou No Kaiden. A Middle School girl must seal away the demon of the week using the magic book her mom left her.
And the list goes on till I feel my eyelids growing heavy and then, I find myself falling asleep.
Jack O' Lanterns, Moonlight, and Magic
By
Rebecca Anna Coleman
Chapter Six : Nurse Cerridwen (Part One of Three)
“One hundred and three fever.” I heard a voice say as I slowly opened my eyes. “If I was your mother, I would bundle you up in some blankets and rush you to the hospital. But, I'm your cousin, not your mother, and beside the roads between here and Benton are iced over.”
I slowly started to lift myself up. I swallowed hard, my throat was dry as hot sand. Swallowing was painful, but slowly my eyes started to focus on the image of a young woman. I knew her, she was my cousin, and her name was Cerridwen, who lived just up the road from me. Well she kind of lived across the pond from me. I regretted that action at once because I soon found myself falling down upon my pillows.
“What are you doing here?” I said, taking a deep breath.
“Your mom called us around midnight. She's been trying to get in touch with you all night. She tried calling your phone, but I guess you were fast asleep, she then tried calling the house phone. But again you were asleep. So finally she got a hold of us. And she wanted to let us know she was trapped in town. That freaking ice storm that rolled into town last night really iced things over good. And you know, nobody down here in Dixie can drive in ice and snow. Plus power out all over Benton. Downtown is a ghost town. All of the shops are closed due to the storm. Even the freaking gas stations are closed.” Cerridwen said with a smirk. “The joys of the South.”
“So, when is the world going to end?” I asked.
“The world's not going to end, girl. You know people are just going to freak out for a day or two, then the sun going to come out. The weather is going to warm up, and that is going to melt most of the snow. That melting snow is going to turn into water, that water is going to pour into the creeks, brooks and the river, and that will cause the river to rise, and as always when the river rises, there is a flood that follows. I expect there to be a little flooding in the river bottoms, not a lot though, But enough water is going to pushed back into those woods that a few dozen of those half-assed built club houses and shooting stands that a bunch of cub scouts tossed up on a whim are going to washed away.”
“Do you think we need to start building an ark?” I asked.
“I'm going to get you some more ibuprofen, then I'm going to fix you some breakfast.” Cerridwen said. “you need something in your system beside frozen pizza?” Cerridwen then paused. “Also, have you tested your blood sugar this morning?”
“...” I took a deep breath, “No, and how did you know I've been binging on frozen pizza?” Well binging is not the right world. But I did have a few last night.
“I looked into the trash can this morning.” Cerridwen said with a smirk. “Okay I'm going to see what I can't rustle up for you. You need something besides frozen pizza.”
And with that Cerridwen exited my room. Then the truth had dawned on me. She had to have seen my hair in pigtails, and yet she made no comment.. heck she was about to have seen that I was wearing a nightgown instead of my normal sleeping clothes. But again she made no comment. Had I'd been discovered?
I pondered on this for fifteen to twenty minutes when at last Cerridwen returned holding a tray. A wooden tray. The tray held a large bowl that was filled with something that looked lumby and brown. Beside it was a small tray that held what looked like three strips of bacon. And beside the bacon is a small, plastic cup of sliced, oranges.
“Your mom really needs to make a grocery run.” Cerridwen said. “As she placed the tray down in front of me. Shit I think I'm spoiling you rotten, breakfast in bed.”
I felt my cheeks flush a little as I reached over and pulled the bowl of brown, lumby mush toward me. I slowly sniffed it.
“It Oatmeal girl.” Cerridwen said. “I would have fixed you some grits, but your mom doesn't have any. The fridge, half a pint of milk, half, half a dozen eggs, half eaten chocolate pie, I did find some fruit cups stuck in the back. And thank heavens for some turkey bacon.”
“Your accent?” I decided to shove the spoon of oatmeal into my mouth.
“What about my accent? Same as yours.” She said, sighing.
“Sounds more Scottish than Southern.” I said, pushing another spoonful of oatmeal into my mouth.
“I've been reading a lot of Robert Burns again.. the unfiltered Scottish tone of his lyrical prose kind of affects my accent. I've kind of picked bits and pieces of it up. And it causally works its way into daily conversation. Now, eat girl before your oatmeal grows cold.” Cerridwen paused. “Also I would offer you some juice, but you have none, and I would offer coffee, but there is not a drop of coffee to be found. And it's too early for soda, so do you have a choice of green tea or milk?”
“Milk with chocolate milk powder?” I asked.
“Sorry, I saw were your mom added chocolate milk powder to the grocery list. But.. she never got around to going to the grocery store, and now with the roads all iced up, it might be a few days before we can leave the Hollow.” Cerridwen said with a sigh.
“Hot chocolate?” I said smiling a little.
“Willow.” Cerridwen said as sighed into her hand. “Again, it was on the grocery list, but your mom never made it to the store.”
“Milk..” I said finally as I shoved some more oatmeal into my mouth.
“...” Cerridwen peered at me, and her pale eyes seemed cold as ice.
“Please?” I added it quickly.
“God, you're such a brat.” Cerridwen said as she rolled her eyes. And with that she left my room. Though she returned a few moments later holding a large glass of chocolate milk. “I found a bit of chocolate sauce in the back.” She said as she handed me the glass of milk. “And I found your medicine. Thankfully your mother has at least three months of your medicine stored up.”
I blinked.
“Here. The white, horse pill is your Metformin. The small reddish pill Ibuprofen. I don't know how often you take blood sugar. So if I can get in touch with your mom I'll ask her. Okay, the house is a mess. And I'm going to roll up my dress sleeves and get to work.”
I swallowed the first pill and washed it down with some milk and then I swallowed the second pill and drained the last of my milk. Once I sucked down the last drop I handed the empty glass toward Cerridwen and in a shy tone of voice I asked.
“May I please have some more?”
“I'm afraid that was the last of the milk.” Cerridwen said.
I sighed.
“Listen, I'm going to be a little mean here. But I don't want you going back and watching anime, and I don't want you to read any manga. I'm going to fix you a big jug of gator-aid mixed with water and I want you to get some sleep and keep hydrated.”
I was about to raise my voice in protest but I noticed Cerridwen was holding up her hand to silence me.
“I want you to get some sleep, okay? I want to sleep, and I only want to catch you out of bed if you need to pee or something. Now, I'm going to start trying to put this house in order. And while I'm putting it in order I'm going to look for something to cook for lunch, something beside you know frozen pizza.”
“Yes mother.”
Cerridwen blushed.
“I guess I am trying to practice on you.. for when I have a child of my own.” Cerridwen said as she reached over and slowly she started to collect dishes. Once she stacked the dishes she peered at me and smiled and in a gentle tone of voice said.
“Now.” She paused. “Sleep.”
And though I thought it impossible, I soon found myself drifting off asleep.