Folklore

Series: Tales of the Other Earth Tale: Halloween Story part 10 M/F Story

M G Kizzia 2 Comments

            The Queen sent a few soldiers down the east hall alongside the auditorium while she and her troops and prisoners walked down the west hall, toward the front door.  She paused when they came to the back-stage entrance, which was open.  She started out on to the stage to look, but the lights were off.

            “And how does one bring light into this place?”  She asked.

            Tom Deal frowned, but stepped over to the backstage bank of switches.  He lit up the stage, but kept the auditorium lights dimmed low.

            “Excellent.”  The Queen clapped her hands.  “By the door and with just the right atmosphere.”  The stage was set for a Middle School production of Romeo and Juliet.  The scenery had a medieval flavor to it all. 

            “But not suitable for prisoners.”  Captain Tor pointed out.

            “To be sure.”  The Queen nodded and they went back toward the front door where there were lights on in a different room.  It was the front office.  Someone, possibly Mary the secretary, alias the Wicked Witch, had been in and out the office earlier.  They unlocked the door, and Captain Tor took the key.  “Will this do?”  The Queen asked.

            The Captain looked around and nodded as he assigned six soldiers to the room; two by the door to the hall, two by the door to the outside, and two, one being a sergeant, to simply watch the adults and make sure they made no trouble.

            “I believe Barten-Cur may be persuaded to tell us what we wish to know, or if not, one of the others.”  Count Severas made the suggestion without exactly spelling out what he had in mind.

            “If it comes to that.”  The Queen did not dismiss the idea.  “Bring the servant and this one.”  She pointed to Gloria Finster.  “The woman appears to be a reasonable sort.”  She trooped out with the Wizard and Count Severas, the Count’s men escorting the prisoners, while Captain Tor began to assign men to guard the outside of the building against any attempted escapes.

            As they walked back to the stage, Barten-Cur looked around carefully, dragging his feet a little to get to the back of the line.  When they reached the stage door, he decided to take his chances.  He let the last bit of magic float off down the hall.  It was a light violet bubble, which soon picked up speed and burst into a hundred little bubbles.  These shot off in every direction as the Wizard came running back from the stage, still holding his box with the crystal.

            “What was that?”  He asked, as the last few mini-bubbles zoomed by above his head.

            “The on button.”   Barten-Cur said, and he hoped he was doing the right thing.

                                                            ————

            Lila dropped the microphone and it clattered loudly against the gym floor.  She couldn’t help it.  She was suddenly nine inches tall and hovering, thanks to her fairy wings, four feet above the ground.  It happened to her all at once, perhaps because she had the magic in her to resonate with the spell; but for everyone else, the change came more gradually.  Almost without thinking, Lila flew up to a height where she could see what was going on.  She saw the tiny purple bubbles of magic slow down and float around the room as if looking for someone to touch.  As they touched, she saw what happened.

            Jennifer actually got a few inches shorter, but her ears became real, and her face aged to a more grow-up look, and changed a bit to give real credence to her status as an elf and woman warrior.  Ginger fell to her hands, and her arms lengthened, or her legs shortened as her nose began to extend and her whiskers moved to her puffy upper lip.  It looked like a difficult transformation, and Ginger opened her mouth to try and say something, but her voice choked on the words and they turned into something of a roar.  That gave Lila a good look at Ginger’s teeth, and that made her look away, except that as she did, she saw Ginger’s danskin fall away, and a great, black tail push it’s way out from behind.  The tail immediately began to twitch to indicate that the newly formed panther was agitated, but Ginger lay down on the floor and licked a paw as if she was seeking to calm herself.

            Chris grew up into a handsome, blond knight.  Peter, the Ninja, hardly changed a bit, except his eyes took on an Asian shape and his movements no longer contained any eighth grade awkwardness.  Mary and Eddie became Red Rayder and Princess Ashanti, and luckily, they changed to real persons and not flat cartoons from a video screen.  Then Lila saw a very grown-up pirate Jordan with a real eye-patch staring at a grown-up pirate Morgan with a real scar on her cheek.  She watched Jordan catch Morgan up in an embrace and plant his lips against hers in a real grown-up kiss, which Morgan willingly returned.

            “Ew!”  Lila said in her new fairy voice.  “No need to get all kissy-face.”  Then she wondered why she said that.

            “Listen up.”  The Scarecrow had picked up the microphone.  “Pay attention.” 

            Lila fluttered down to Ginger and looked the cat in the eye.  The cat had the most perfect cat-like expression about her face, so Lila was not sure.  “Are you still Ginger in there?”  Lila asked.  The cat said nothing.  “I would be very sorry if you weren’t Ginger anymore.  Please nod your head if you are still Ginger.”  The cat nodded slightly, and then licked her forearm.  “Oh, I’m glad.  I’m going to believe in you now.”  Lila said, and she came forward to hug the cat, but the cat was too big.  Then Lila had a thought.  “Can I ride on your back?”  The cat shook her head.  That was a definite no.

            “I am going to believe what has happened to us has been for us to do something about this predicament.  We cannot leave the others in the hands of enemy soldiers, and we have to get free from this place, if we can.”  The Scarecrow had readily grasped what had happened to them all, and he knew that it was especially important to contain this invasion to the school.  The worst thing would be letting these soldiers loose on an unsuspecting community.  “Now, I am going to let the music start again so they think we have gone back to the party.  Some of you will be no help to us, but some will.  First, however, I think we need to guard the door.  You there!  Space Gladiator!”

            “Adam, I think.”  Jennifer said.  She was squinting with her elf eyes as if seeing something no human eyes could perceive.  It was the young man the Coach wanted on the football team, and he would want him even more now if he saw the size of the man with his head sticking up above all the others. 

            “Yes, Spaceman.”  The Scarecrow got his attention, and with that, several people backed away to give the Space Gladiator plenty of room.  “Watch the door and keep the Truscans out of here until we get straight what we are doing.”

            “Do you speak for the Emperor of the known worlds?”  The Gladiator asked.  “I take orders from no man, least of all a man of straw.”

            Lila was back by then, and she knew that the Space Gladiator was disparaging her Grandfather.  As a fairy, she no longer had the presence of mind to wonder how a scarecrow could be her Grandfather, but he was, and the Gladiator was not helping, even if he was the hero of the movie.  She zoomed up to the man’s face with a determined look scrunched up on her own face and her little fists planted firmly on her hips.  “Want to argue about it?”  She shouted.

            The Gladiator paused.  He seemed mesmerized for a minute.  His hand came up, but he did not touch.  It was more like a frozen man warming himself for a moment by a roaring flame.  He bowed his head.  “For the embodiment of life, I will do as requested.”  He turned with a flare of his cape and marched to the door, followed by Tasha, his own, personal cheerleader.

            “We’ll keep the music going.”  Owen, the gangster came up, his moll, Terry, clinging to his arm and chewing her gum to death.  Rapper Bob was with him, and Celeste, who most recognized as a great Rock Star.  Indeed, Celeste had to push behind the equipment table and seek the protection of the gangster and the big rapper to keep from being mobbed by the crowd.

            At that point, Queen Jessica came up and wanted the microphone.  “My subjects.”  She tried to speak, but Sir Chris and the two pirates held her back for the moment.

            “But these are my subjects.”  Jessica insisted, sincerely believing this to be the truth.  “They should be doing what I say, not what this straw man says.”

            “Aye, your majesty.”  Jordan said with a bow.  “But there are events this evening which may upset your delicate sensibilities.  By your grace, let us deal with these unpleasant necessities.”

            “Back off.”  Morgan said with a snicker, and Jessica backed into the protective circle of her ladies in waiting.

            “Pirates.”  She almost spat.  “Are all of my subjects in rebellion?”

            Before Jessica got any further, the scarecrow quickly turned back to the assembly.  “I want the color guard, you football players and any superheroes that might be about, oh, and the medical people in the back, there.  You better come along as well, though I hope you will not be needed.  Lila, bring your friends; but I want the rest of you to have fun, for now.  Make them think there is a real party going on in here.  To the cafeteria.”  He barely got that last word out before Rapper Bob took over.

            “Oh, there is a real party going on.”  The Rapper said, and he turned up the volume, loud.

            “But they should be listening to me!  The people should be doing what I say!”  Queen Jessica was miffed.  The witches, Brittany, Nichole and Molly, all hag ugly, came up making the most sympathetic noises.

            “Majesty, not all are in rebellion.”  Brittany said while all three witches bowed regally.  “But your nerves must be shot by the turn of events.  Do let us serve you as you ought to be served, my Queen.  Allow us this small thing, to make a tonic for you that it may fortify you and calm your stresses, so you may take up the responsibility of ruling this great kingdom with renewed strength.”

            “Yes.”  Queen Jessica responded slowly.  “I could use a tonic at this time.  I thank you for your devotion to my person.  You may do this thing.”  Brittany bowed again, turned, and smiled to her sister witches in a way which was not at all nice, and they led the Queen and her ladies toward the cafeteria where they could find what they needed to work on the tonic.

Series: Tales of the Other Earth Tale: Halloween Story part 8 M/F Story

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            “In here, your majesty.”  The grizzled old man said, holding his box with the crystal close to his face and staring hard as if seeing something in the glittering stone that no other eyes could perceive.  “There was much magic present for a moment, and then all at once it was over, like the undoing of a half-woven spell.”

            The Queen nodded and turned to her troops.  “Be on your guard, Captain Tor.”  She said.  “We stumbled innocently into that hedge of warning, so at least someone knows we are coming.  And Count Severas.”  She turned to the man who was dressed like a sixteenth century dandy complete with gold-hilted saber at his side.  “We are not here to fight these people.  We only want the girl.”

            The Count nodded, as if giving a slight bow to his Queen, but his eyes betrayed other thoughts in his mind.

            “Wizard!”  The Queen called and the grizzled old man came to her, showing far more respect in his bow than the Count had shown.  “Are you sure?”  This woman was demanding.

            The Wizard looked around at the Count, Captain Tor and several of the soldiers, but he saw no support in any of them.  “Majesty.”  He hedged.  “I was told there was no magic in this world, but there is much interference in the atmosphere.  The Princess and her daughter should have been easy to locate, sticking out in the midst of the crowd like a goat among sheep, but it has not been so.”  The Queen’s look hardened.  The Wizard winced a little.  “I am reasonably sure there is magic active in this place, but of the source and person, I cannot honestly say.”

            “Are there no other sources?”  The Queen clearly wanted some assurance.

            The Wizard shook his head, slowly.  “I have picked up something, but it is some distance from here, and I am not certain.  There is much interference in the atmosphere, but of this place, I am certain, though who or what may be responsible, I cannot say.”

            The Queen nodded.  She signaled the soldiers and motioned for Captain Tor to precede her while she and the Count and her Wizard brought up the rear.

                                                            ————

            Mister Deal finally got the music turned down.  “Fire Alarm?”  He asked above many voices which were asking the same thing.

            “Hold on.  Hold on.”  The baby Principal was saying.  He stepped over to the music riser.  “Hold on.”  He said to the squeal of feedback as he turned on the microphone.  Mister Deal quickly adjusted the volume.  “That’s not the fire alarm or any other bell I know.”  The class bell in the school was really a loud buzzer.  “Don’t panic.  I am sure it is nothing to be concerned about and there is a simple explanation.”

            With that, the explanation for the bell entered the room.  They were soldiers, dressed in late medieval garb, and they spread themselves around the gym, surrounding the middle school students.  Clearly, the soldiers were surprised to find so many children and even more surprised to find them dressed up in costumes, though they hardly recognized most of the characters they were pretending to be.  An old man with a limp and a young one with gold braid and a swagger entered next, and then came the woman.  She was dressed in a gown that fitted her shapely figure, but her hair was gray, indicating the fact that she was a good bit older than she might have wanted to appear.  The woman had deep-set, but very active eyes.  She was clearly a woman of power, used to being obeyed without question, and she was presently speaking to the soldiers in a tongue that she assumed no one knew.  But Barten-Cur knew the words, and so did Wendel Carter.  Wendel slid up to the scarecrow in the corner and did his best to blend into the decorations.

            Finally, the woman, who was evidently in charge, turned to the slack-jawed crowd and spoke in English.  “All right.  Where is she?”

            Principal Barlow paused a minute before he responded into the microphone.  “Where is who?”

                                                            ————

            Arosa sipped her coffee and looked at David.  David still hardly knew what to say.  He had accepted her story.  He could not reasonably do otherwise; but it was not every day a person had undeniable evidence that there were not only other worlds filled with other, intelligent life in the universe, but your girlfriend, to say the least, was one of those other… People?

            “After the rebellion failed, my Mother-in-law made overtures of peace with the Empire.  I do not blame her.  It was what she had to do in the lost cause, and I suppose it was wise, after all, that she stayed away from any hint of rebellion from the beginning.  The Emperor was willing to allow for that, because he was so preoccupied in the North and West.  That much was true.”

            “Politics.”  David said.  “Bad as the school system.”

            “Oh, not that bad.”  Arosa said with a smile.  “But bad enough.”

            “But it was not safe for you and your baby.”  David understood.

            Arosa confirmed and shook her head.  “Who knows if we will ever be able to go home again?”  She looked sad for a moment before she shouted.  “Ouch!”

            “Umph.”  The fat man grunted at her as he got off her wing and headed back to his seat.

            A tear came to Arosa’s eye as she reached back and pulled her wing forward.  It was completely resilient and flexible and not easily broken, but the foot and shoe of the clumsy fat man was painful.  A few more tears came as Arosa stroked her wing like a wounded bird.

            “Hey!”  David shouted at the man.  “At least apologize you klutz.”  He was angry, partly because he knew the wings were real, and partly because he was really feeling for the unfairness of Arosa, and Lila’s exile.

            The fat man looked at his little wife and pulled out a wad of money.  “Here.”  He said, throwing a five-dollar bill in David’s direction.  “Buy your woman a new costume.”  He laughed, thinking he was funny.  David hardly clenched his fist before striking the fat man in the jaw, knocking him right out of the chair.

            The man got up screaming mad, but he was a stranger in town while David was the High School Principal and Arosa was the Middle School Librarian.  There were three farmers and two merchants from town who grabbed the fat man and showed him the door.  The man’s poor wife got up and she did lean over to Arosa to quietly apologize.

            “I’ll be all right.”  Arosa said, and since no one else was looking, their eyes all being focused on the struggle at the front door, she spread her wing and fluttered it a minute.  “He didn’t break anything.”

            The woman’s eyes got big.  She screamed and ran after her husband.

Series: Tales of the Other Earth Tale: Halloween Story part 6 M/F Story

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            Arosa sat still for the long ride to Wallace’s Fish Camp.  David seemed speechless, but that was fine for the moment.  Arosa had her own thoughts to contend with, and they were quite enough.  Apparently, the theme for the day had not yet finished.

            Presently, Arosa was remembering the plots and plans they had made.

            “With the Emperor so preoccupied in Gwarhor and in the West, now is the time to strike for freedom.”  That was Arosa’s own father who said that.  Her mother was quiet, but in full accord.  Her Great Uncle Festus, as Captain-General of the ships of Nova, Admiral as Arosa translated in her mind, he shouted “Here!  Here!” or the equivalent in the tongue of Nova.  Dunovan was more thoughtful.

            “With our combined fleets we can rule in the Southern Sea.”  He said.  “But on land, we must all hang together or we will surely all hang separately.”

            Arosa shook her head.  That was from the American Revolution, but the sentiment was the same.  Poor, brave, sweet, senseless Dunovan. 

            A tear came to Arosa’s eye.

            She remembered that last time she saw Dunovan, all dressed for war in glittering chain and shining bronze.  Such a glorious knight he was, and what devotion he had from every man who followed him to their doom.  She cried for days when word came.  Poor Lila was almost neglected, and would have been if not for the nurse and the faithful, loving servants that surrounded her.  Arosa tried to turn her mind from her memory of Dunovan, thinking that her serious thoughts about David was bringing it all to the surface; but apparently the vision-like moment was not done.

            She remembered the messenger, every speck of dirt on the man’s clothes, every drop of sweat on the man’s broad forehead; how he had ridden all night with the news and run up the great castle steps with tears in his own eyes.  Her Mother and Father were poisoned.  Her great uncle was ruined at sea and would not be coming back.  The Empire was in Nova and her unremarkable second cousin Verko, a sixteen-year-old boy with no ambition whatsoever, had been installed on the throne.  The boy would do as he was told and he was closest to the throne, after her.  Apparently, the Emperor Kzurga had no intention of having her return to Nova, and she dared not stay in Truscas.  It would be her death, certain.

            She remembered all of the hints her mother-in-law Callista dropped into everyday conversation.  She should go away.  She was not of the right blood to rule in Truscas, even if her daughter was.  She should find another home to spend her days.  Of course, none of it was said in so many words, but it was the sentiment.   Arosa would have to have been an ignorant fool not to know this.

            But it was not for Callista’s sake that she found this world and came to this place of exile.  It was for the people.  Arosa was part of the rebellion, even if only a little part.  The Emperor might have forgiven her for her part in the conspiracy, but she could not count on that.  Truscas was in danger of invasion as long as she stayed the Queen.  Barten-Cur came from the house of Nova, sought her out, and together, they ran.  She said nothing, though, because Callista would have certainly tried to kidnap Lila and keep her in hiding.

            They arrived at the fish camp and Arosa stepped out of the car almost before David turned off the engine.  She did not want him to see her cry.  Not just yet. 

            “Are you all right?”  David asked kindly.

            “David.”  Arosa hesitated for one last moment, and then she made up her mind.  Before we go any further in this relationship, there is something you need to know.”  He was about to say something stupid so she spoke first.  “I’m not from this world.”

            David paused.  He looked at her closely.  “From the way you are dressed.”  He started to make a joke, but then he pulled himself up as tall as he could stand.  “I think I can almost believe you.  You are much too beautiful for a small Georgia town.”

            Arosa smiled.  That was not exactly true, but she did not mind hearing it.  Still, she felt she had to tell him and that feeling came with an urgency she did not understand.  She took his hand and walked him to the side of the parking lot where no one would go.  She stopped there and raised her hands, the magic flowing from her fingers.  A bubble-like structure surrounded them, which would muffle any sounds they made and make them all but invisible to any eyes that were not on top of them.  Then she turned to David and let her wings out, pushing them slowly against the air until she was hovering about three feet from the ground.  David looked scared for a moment, but he calmed a little when she spoke.  “I have a story to tell you, over dinner if you don’t mind.  I’m starving.”  She landed, burst the bubble with a thought, took David’s arm and led him to the door before he could raise a protest.

                                                ————

            Barten-Cur imagined there was a kind of orchestrated madness going on in the gym.  It had been used during the day, of course, so it could not be decorated for the dance until after school.  Jessica and her eighth grade “in-crowd,” Mindy, Savannah and Shakira were putting up streamers.  The wannabes, Brittany, Nichole and Molly were plastering the walls with Halloween motifs.  Coach Beemer had the four prime members of the eighth grade football team setting up chairs and a few tables.  There was Tyler Hamm, the quarterback, Alex the center, Brad the linebacker, and Colin the defensive end.  They were in practice uniforms, and Barten-Cur guessed those uniforms would be doubling for their Halloween costumes at the dance.

            Barten-Cur held his ears for a minute.  “Sorry.  Sorry.”  Mister Deal, the music teacher was setting the volume for the music and testing the equipment. 

            “I should think so!”  Ms Gloria Finster, the art teacher, shouted from the refreshment table.  “I almost dropped the punch.”  She was emptying orange soda and fruit punch into a big bowl.  It was supposed to end up pumpkin color, but in truth it was more the color of Georgia red clay-mud.

            Ms Addams, Language Arts and Mister Johnson, Social Studies, chose that moment to enter from the Cafeteria side, carrying trays of cookies.

            “I don’t dress.”  Mister Johnson was saying.

            Barten stared for a minute at Ms Addams.  She was maybe twenty-five, and by far the prettiest woman at the school, after the Princess, to be sure.

            “But you have so many good choices to choose from.”  She was arguing with the older man.

            “Dead white men.”  Mister Johnson complained.

            “All right, then.  Fredrick Douglass, Martin Luther King.  Someone!”

            “I don’t do Halloween.  I don’t dress.”  Mister Johnson insisted.

            “Bob and Emily are coming as a disco couple.”  Ms Finster spoke up from the punch bowl.  She was talking about the math and science teachers.  “Isn’t that cute?”

            “I don’t do cute, either.”  Mister Johnson said, but he almost smiled by accident as he said it.

            “Excuse me.”  Barten-Cur heard a voice behind him and he had to step aside.  He had been blocking the door and Ms Ramirez the Spanish teacher wanted in.  She was followed by a half-dozen seventh graders, Nate and Karen, fat Brian, and Maria who could hardly speak any English.  Coach Beemer had his eyes open, though, and he immediately came up to Adam, a rather large young man for the seventh grade.

            “So Adam.”  The coach said.  “Thought any more about football?”  He was a direct kind of person.  Adam was not in the mood.

            “I don’t know.”  He hedged.

            Shakira came up looking for her cousin.  “Where’s Tasha?”  She asked.  Tasha had it bad for big Adam.

            “I don’t know.”  Adam repeated himself.

            Ms Finster shouted out from the refreshment table.  “Come to help?”

            “No.”  Adam answered for them all.  “We’re just passing through.”  He tried to hide among his fellow seventh graders, but his head towered over the others, as they all waited on Ms Ramirez.

            “We’re about done anyway.”  Ms Finster admitted.

            “Who let the peons in here?”  Jessica asked in a superior tone, referring to the seventh graders in general.  She was halfway up a ladder and turned for a good look.

            “Don’t touch them.”  Mindy said.  “You might catch something.”

            “No telling where they’ve been.”  Savannah added.

            The seventh graders looked at each other, but that just made the girls laugh.  Brittany stepped forward from the window, however, and just had to say something.

            “Come on, Jessica.  Get off your high horse.”

            “Is pickle face talking to me?”  Jessica responded.  Brittany’s mom had the bad sense to dress her daughter as a pickle in the first grade.  It was a cute costume at the time; but now that Brittany was of an age where things were beginning to break out on her face for real, Jessica thought it was a good time to remind everyone of that costume.  Brittany fumed, but she said nothing knowing that it would have only made matters worse.  She left, red angry, and Nichole and Molly followed.

            “See you at six.”  Ms Finster shouted after them, hoping to turn everyone’s thoughts from Jessica’s cruel words, but it did not really help.   Jessica laughed and climbed the rest of the ladder.

            “Tyler!”  Jessica called sweetly to the quarterback.  “Hand me the streamer.”  Barten-Cur noticed the streamer extended to the foot of the ladder, but Tyler was not paying attention.  He moved when Ms Ramirez left with the seventh graders in her train.  He reached the streamer and handed it up.  Jessica took one look down at that ugly, wart-face and screamed.  She kept on screaming, too, until everyone came and Barten-Cur finally put down the streamer and walked away.  Of course, Jessica claimed that she had merely been startled by the custodian’s face, but if that was true, one scream would have been enough.

            “Sorry Mister Cur.”  Tom Deal, the music teacher, took in on himself to speak for everyone; but then they all had to focus on Jessica, which was all Jessica really wanted.

                                                ————

            Barten-Cur went over to the window, not giving the attitude of the girl a second thought.  Because of his appearance, he had been treated that way his whole life; even back in the old world.  Then, he remembered!  He rushed out of the gym and shot for his pick-up.  The drive was short, but by the time he arrived at the house, everyone was gone.

            Barten locked the front door, Lila having forgotten again, and he stood on the front porch for a long time pondering what to do.  All he could envision was Truscan soldiers invading the school, and people getting hurt.  Seventh and Eighth graders were in no position to defend themselves, he thought.  To be sure, there were only a dozen places in town to eat out, and half of them were fast food restaurants.  Barten-Cur could have found his Princess easily enough, but he did not think of that.  He was worried about Lila, if the soldiers came.  He guessed they would be looking for her, and Arosa, but Lila especially had no one else to look after her.  He made up his mind.

            He went to his apartment and retrieved a potion he had made some time ago.  “To keep in practice.”  He told himself.  He had intended it for the Wallabys’ dogs, thinking they would do less damage to the property as squirrels, but he never used it.  Lady Arosa said he was not to do magic except in extreme emergency, like if Lila’s life was in danger.  Well, this counted, but he would have to be careful about it so as not to get in trouble.

Series: Tales of the Other Earth Tale: Halloween Story part 5 M/F Story

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            Barten-Cur came up to the Middle School in a hurry.  He tried to make it before the school busses started, but failed, and so he was delayed in traffic for a long time.  By the time he arrived, the library was already closed up and Arosa had gone home.  Lila was also nowhere to be found.  He was about to turn and rush to the house, but the Middle School Principal caught him.

            “Barten.”  The Principal called.  “I appreciate you coming over from the High School for this dance.  Wilson has little ones to trick or treat, you know.”  He said.  “I’m a little concerned, though, that all of the decorations are up to code.  We can’t have the Fire Marshall coming in and shutting down the whole event.”

            “Yes sir.”  Barten said.  He would need to check on that, but later, he thought.

            Mary, Principal Barlow’s secretary stuck her head out of the office door on hearing the voices in the hall.  “Ah.  Mister Cur.”  She said.  “I was hoping you would come early.  I have several instructions to go over with you and I want to ask you some questions.”

            Barten-Cur swallowed.  “Yes mam.”  He said, hoping it would not take too long.  He looked to the side as Morgan and Mary went by. 

            “I hear Secretary Mary, the school witch is coming as the Wicked Witch of the West.”  Morgan whispered.

            “Perfect.”  Mary said with a smile and shrug as they hurried off.

            Later, when Barten-Cur came out of the office, he looked very confused.  The school secretary was very good at doing that to people, even the bright ones.  Barten-Cur walked down the hall that ran along the side of the auditorium, and headed for the gym.  He had to be sure the decorations were not in violation of the fire codes.  By the time he remembered the soldier and his need to tell Arosa, it was too late.       

                                                            ————

            Lila left Jennifer and Ginger at the front walk and came in by the picket fence gate, waving as she walked up the porch steps.  Of course, Jennifer and Ginger had to go home to get in their costumes; but they would be back.  “One hour!”  Jennifer had shouted from the distance, though Lila suspected it would take a bit longer than that.

            Grandpa drove up as Lila reached the door, so she waited, and then decided to go to the car to meet him.  She hugged him.  “You are coming to the dance?”  She had not had a chance to ask earlier what with chemistry tests and such.

            “I wouldn’t miss it.”  Wendel said, putting his arm around Lila’s shoulder for a real hug.  “Your mother inside?” 

            “I guess.”  Lila said.  “She left school right away.  What takes so long to get ready for a crumby date, anyway?”  She asked.

            “Ah, yes.”  Grandpa Carter said in an all-knowing tone of voice.  “But I think you had better let your mother explain that.  I’m not much good on the ways of women and their dates.”

            “Oh, Grandpa.”  Lila said, happily, hugging him just a little more.

            Wendel Carter smiled.  He was genuinely happy.

            Upstairs, Arosa fretted in front of the mirror.  The white gown would suit well.  It fit nicely and had a solid Greco-Roman look to it as would be expected for an angel; but she was not sure if she should really do the wings or just suggest them with the strap-ons.  She straightened the golden circle around her hair, which was there to suggest the halo.  She was not about to wear one with a stick attached.  She picked up her brush and began brushing her bangs.  Her hair was short now, at least by her standards, falling only to the middle of her back; though it was still much longer than the boy haircuts so popular among the women around her.  “Definitely do the wings.”  She decided, and she focused, waved her hands slightly, producing a soft, swirling white light, which rose over her shoulder and touched her back.  The magic would do the work.

            Vents appeared in two places in the back of her gown, well edged so as not to fray, but large enough to let out the wings.  She felt the magic when it touched her back, and was uncomfortable for a moment as her back muscles became much stronger, multiplied and rearranged themselves.  Then the wings began to grow.  She could feel the tips extending, and felt the feathers like one felt one’s hair; yet there was life in the wings, and she could play with them, though she did hope she would not molt too much over the course of the evening.  The wings, when contracted, soon rose as high as her head, and the tip feathers touched the ground so she had to let them out just a little to keep them from dragging.  She considered their shape.  They were spaced perfectly so she would have no trouble sitting in a chair.  She would have to tell David no booths, though, wherever he was taking her.

            Arosa sighed.  “Why not?”  She asked herself.  She let the wings all of the way out and allowed one gentle flap, putting her hands above her head just in case she ran into the ceiling.  She lifted gently off the ground, about a foot, and then settled slowly back to her feet.  Lila came to the door just in time to see.

            “Mom!”  Lila nearly shouted. 

            “What do you think?”  Arosa asked.

            “Oh, Mom.”  Lila came close for a hug.  “I always knew you were an angel.”

            “But.”  Arosa had a sudden thought.  She broke the embrace and turned around.  “How do I look?” 

            Lila took a moment to look closely at the wings.  She saw them flex, like a wave beginning in her mother’s back and continuing to gently flow all of the way to the tips.  “Fine.”  She said, not knowing what she was supposed to be looking at.

            “My back isn’t too big?”  Arosa asked.

            Lila looked more closely.  “No.”  She said.  “Bigger than it was, I think, but not too big.  Still nice.”

            Arosa turned again with relief on her face.  “I was afraid the muscles needed to carry my wings might turn my back into some monstrous size.”

            Lila shook her head.  “They are angel wings, right?  Wouldn’t they have some magic in them to prevent that?”

            Arosa smiled.  “I know we haven’t practiced magic much.”  She said.  “We have to work on that, but you should at least remember the lessons you have had.  Even with magic, things…”

            “Still work by natural means.”  Lila finished the sentence.  “OK.  Now you can help me with my fairy wings.  Oh, wait.  Let me get in costume first.”

            “No Lila.”  Arosa spoke in her firm voice.

            “What?  But Mom!”

            “First of all, fairies are only about six or nine inches tall, and you are not allowed to go to the dance nine inches tall.”

            Lila interrupted.  “And second of all, we are not supposed to practice magic in public.  That’s your rule.  But you are.”  Lila was glad to point that out.

            “And second of all, you left the front door unlocked this morning.  No real fairy wings!”  Arosa shook her finger.

            “Not fair!”  Lila complained and went off to her room, closing the door with some volume.  Arosa sighed and went downstairs, letting her wings float her down.

            “Dad?”  She saw him rummaging through his briefcase.

            “I have to go back to the office.”  He said. 

            “You better dress first.”  She suggested.

            “Richard the Lionhearted goes to school.”  He winked.

            “Dad.”  She knew he did not have such a costume.

            “All right.  I’m really dressing as the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz, you know, if I only had a brain.”

            Arosa laughed softly and kissed him as the front doorbell rang and Wendel hustled upstairs.  Arosa answered the door, and David was dressed as Richard the Lionhearted.  She turned and shot a hard look up the stairs.  It was a good costume, too, almost good enough to give Arosa a feeling of home.  “You look very nice.”

            “You look.”  David had to pause for the right words.  “Very lovely.”  That was where he finally settled, though it was not what he was thinking.  Arosa saw much more in his eyes.  She smiled and looked down as she stepped out and took his arm.  They walked to the car, and as an afterthought, Arosa sent a bit of special magic, secretly, to let her sit comfortably in the front passenger seat, and still wear her seatbelt, despite the wings.  She had not thought of sitting in the car.

            “You do look lovely.”  David repeated himself as they got in and buckled up.  He really was a nice man, Arosa thought.

            In the house, Wendel Carter got his things and headed for the door, shouting back at Lila.  “I have to go back to the office.  I’ll see you at the school.  Your mother left supper on the stove for you.  Are you there, Lila?”

            Lila opened her door.  “I’m here. Grandpa.”  She shouted.  “I’ll lock the door when I go.”  She finished dressing and heard Grandpa’s car start and leave.  Lila let her magic out, but the wings would not attach and she could not grow any from scratch.  She felt useless.  Her magic was more yellow, like sunlight, and not the pure white of her mother’s magic.  She wondered briefly if that might have something to do with her difficulties, but she remembered when her mother explained that it should make no difference.  Barten-Cur’s magic tended to come with a light purple light, and he was a very powerful magician.

            “Someday.”  Lila said to herself, and she went downstairs and turned her nose up at the dinner her mother left.  She checked her resources and decided on the McDonalds, which was just a block from the school.

Series: Tales of the Other Earth Tale: Halloween Story part 4 M/F Story

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            Lila was in the Library last period for study hall, where no one ever studied.  Presently, she was staring out the window.   There was a war was going on.  The school color guard, the ones who would do ROTC in High School were struggling to practice, lifting heavy white-washed wooden guns with sweaty hands and marching in step to music which was considerably better than the High School band.  Lila was sure Aaron and Missy were set on the Navy.  Aaron was the captain of the team, though, and Lila felt that Missy might just be following him around.  Ricky and Tamika, on the other hand, were both clearly interested in the Marines.  Curiously, both would have to lose some weight, she thought.

            There were also two seventh graders.  Lila had to think for a minute before coming up with the names Kate and Warren.  She shrugged.  They were seventh graders, and they looked it.

            Aaron broke off the drill to go to the parking lot.  Bob was in the lot, ignoring whatever class he was supposed to be in, blasting gangsta rap, and Celeste was laughing at something.  Owen was there with Terry clinging to him like a leech, and Kyle, poor hormone crazy, sex maniac Kyle was right with them.  God help the eighth grade. 

Lila tried to listen, but since she could not hear through the glass, she had to imagine Aaron was yelling at Bob to turn it down.  The hip-hop music was seriously crimping the drill, but Bob and Celeste just laughed.  God, how Lila hated the middle school games!

            There was an interruption in the war.  The three primo seventh graders, Anna, Lisa and Elizabeth were walking by, ignoring everything and everyone, except Kyle was not about to let them pass without making a pass.  Lila saw Anna turn toward the other two, and she looked red-faced because of whatever Kyle said.  It looked like Lisa responded while Elizabeth stuck her nose up and wanted nothing to do with the eighth grader.  Who would?  The boy was running amok, Lila decided.

            “Ahem!”  Lila’s mom was shelving something and Lila snapped to attention, looking at her textbook, though not really focusing.  She would recognize that “Ahem!” anywhere.  It was not a good thing having your mother as school librarian, at least not very often.

            “Kyle is a weirdo.”  Ginger whispered.

            “What?”  Morgan missed it.

            “He said something to the seventh grade wannabes.”  Lila explained.  “Probably something stupid.”  She added, though it was unnecessary.  Morgan’s mouth was already forming an understanding “O,” when Mary pointed.

            “Tom and Rachel.”  Mary said, and all heads turned.  Mary and Eddie were on again – off again.  Donna and Bobby were also a couple, though they were never much together, like they were still checking things out about being a boy and a girl together.  Tom and Rachel, on the other hand, seemed to have settled things nicely.  They were not holding hands, exactly, but they might as well have been.  Morgan sighed.  She was interested in Jordan, admitting it one day and denying it the next; but Lila had learned, under strict confidence, that both Morgan and Jordan were coming to the Halloween dance as pirates.

            “No place to hide there.”  Lila said, half out loud, which solicited another “Ahem!” from the peanut gallery. 

            “This is study time, not window time.”  Lila’s mom reminded the girls, and they got quiet for a minute, though none of them so much as glanced at their books.

            “Got it.”  Jennifer spoke almost too loud as she came over and sat at the table, a big book in her hand.  “The gang at the geek table said this book has everything we need for our project.”

            “Great.”  Ginger sighed, and Morgan nodded in agreement, but Lila craned her neck to look at the geek table.  She trusted George well enough, and Shirley, she supposed.  Shirley had been a friend since kindergarten.  Ethan was a bit on the crazy side.  Maybe he was hormoning, too, just expressing it differently from Kyle.  But then there was Lucy.  Lucy was the class clown, and not technically one of the geeks.  Lila looked at the book and wondered if maybe Lucy had really picked it out.  It was not that Lucy was untrustworthy, but she would do anything for a laugh, and that might include making Lila and her friends spend hours in a book which had nothing they needed at all.  Lila decided to check it out with her mom, and she snatched up the book and went to the desk.  That was OK, because no one was looking at the book just yet.  There was too much going on outside the window.

            Mary spoke up while Lila was with her mom.  “Eddie and I broke up again.”  She said.

            “Is that good?”  Morgan asked.  She always asked while Jennifer and Ginger made their usual comments.  “Too bad,” and, “Good for you.”

            “No, it’s not good.”  Mary said.  “I got my Princess costume all ready.  Eddie was coming as Red Rayder.”  They were characters from a video game

            “Wear it anyway.”  Jennifer insisted.

            “Yeah.”  Ginger agreed.  “Let Red Rayder worry about it.”

            “I heard Bobby and Donna broke up, too.”  Morgan said.

            “Were they ever a couple?”  Mary wondered.

            Jennifer shrugged while Morgan added a note.  “Low class trailer bums.”

            “Speaking of low class.”  Ginger interrupted and pointed.

            Shannah and Kylie came in talking up a storm on their cell phones.  The seventh graders, Vanessa and Lori followed, in awe of the older rich girls who modeled new outfits every day and acted like they owned the world.  In fact, Lila said so to her mother, but with one addition.

            “They act like they own everything but have no idea what to do with it.” 

            “Hush.”  Arosa scolded her daughter, softly, and came out from behind the desk, her hand open.  Shannah and Kylie acted all put out, but they handed over the cells to be picked up when the day ended.  They were not permitted in school, after all.  The eighth graders went one direction, and the seventh graders went another, but sat where they could keep an eye on their eighth grade models.

                                                            *****

            Arosa slipped the phones in a drawer while her daughter went back to her table.  Arosa looked at the clock.  The day was nearly over, and she had her date with David on her mind.  Was she doing the right thing?  He was the first man she had been able to get close to, after her adopted dad, of course, but there were things about her that David did not know.  Then again, did she want to get close to him?  It would mean roots that might be hard to break; but then, she reminded herself for the millionth time that she would probably never be able to go home. 

            She closed the drawer with the phones in it and had another thought.  How might things have turned out differently if she had such devices in her own world?  She looked at Lila and was struck with the notion that Lila might never know the world in which she was born.  It was sad to think it.  She remembered the day Lila came into the world.  Those had been happy days.

            “And what shall we call this marvel?”  Dunovan had asked.  He was so proud of her, and she was so happy for him.

            “Lila, sweet.”  Arosa said.

            “Is that one word or two?”  Dunovan asked as if serious.  They had already discussed names and Lila had already been decided for a girl, but Arosa gladly played along.

            “One word.”  She said with a serious expression on her face, and he laughed, and that made her laugh, too.  She so seldom heard him laugh, and he had such a wonderful, take your breath away, full of joy kind of laughter that she longed to hear again and again.  She sighed.  While those were happy days, they were short lived.  The Empire was bearing down too hard.

            Arosa remembered the poverty in the streets of Enteras, the port city and capitol of the land.  It was worse outside the city, and no better up the coast in her home of Nova.  The Emperor Kzurga was taking every man, weapon and speck of grain he could for wars in the North and West.  The poor people were all but killing themselves in the fields and hills only to go hungry in winter.  Though they lived far enough in the south to plant winter wheat as well as summer rye and barley, the climate being more like Florida, though not too different from Georgia, it was never enough for either the Emperor’s collectors or the people.  They had to do something.  Arosa understood that, even if it left her in a self-imposed exile.  She knew they had to try.

            She recalled Dunovan’s mother, Callista the cold as Arosa had come to think of her.  The woman wanted nothing to do with rebellion.  The others ignored her.  Arosa found that odd because it was not that they distrusted the woman.  When Arosa confronted her Mother-in-law, it was because of her lack of understanding.  She tried to get the woman to explain herself on three separate occasions, but it was not until they found themselves unexpectedly alone, a condition that both of them had previously tried hard to avoid, that the woman opened up for the first and only time. 

            “I will do nothing against you all.  Technically, I have no power here.  It is all vested in the King, my son, your husband.  But someone must be free of taint just in case this rebellion of yours should not succeed.  I will not see my land under the thumb of some governor appointed by that madman, Kzurga.  So tell me nothing of your plans.  Tell me nothing at all.  Officially, I know nothing, and what I know I must speak against.  If we succeed, my words will not matter.  If we fail, I may be the only hope for peace in this place.  Now I must leave before we are compromised.”  And she left, Arosa feeling very uncomfortable about it all.

                                                            *****

            The Bell rang.

            In seconds, the seventh grade geeks came in, loudly, and headed straight for the geek table.  Then the boys arrived, and Lila and her friends hurried to pack their books away.

            Chris and Peter sat down by Lila and Jennifer.  It was a mutually acceptable arrangement of indecisiveness, partly because Lila, and especially Jennifer were both taller than the boys for the present.  Nelson sat across from Ginger who ignored him very readily.  “I’m coming as Max Man, with my stuffed dog Maxamillian.”  Nelson was saying.  They were cartoon characters.

            “Figures.”  Jordan said, nudging his friend as he sat, but neither he nor Morgan would look at each other.  It was another unspoken, temporary agreement.  At least they never looked at each other when the others were around.  Meanwhile, Eddie, alias Red Rayder, sat next to Mary, alias Princess Ashanti.  They spoke quietly for a minute and the others had the good sense not to interrupt, though they all listened.  The result was, Eddie and Mary became a couple again.  Then Lila’s mom came and shooed them out.  They were supposed to go home for supper.  The Halloween dance was not scheduled until six, and besides, Arosa had plans of her own.

Series: The Other Earth. Tale: Halloween Story part 3. M/F Story

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

             “Morning Dad.”  Arosa said as she set a bowl of oatmeal in front of Wendel Carter and kissed his balding head.  She walked to the stairs.  “Lila, hurry up!   You’ll be late for school.”

            “I don’t like oatmeal.”  Wendel complained, grumpily.

            “High cholesterol gets you oatmeal for breakfast.”  Arosa said as she stepped back to the refrigerator to pour Lila a glass of orange juice.  She paused when she realized the man was staring at her.  “What?”

            “Best thing I ever did, adopting you and Lila.  Even if you treat me like a doddering old fool.”  He smiled.  Arosa thought that deserved another kiss and she planted one on his forehead this time as she set down the orange juice for Lila.  She stuck her head out the back door. 

            “Barten!”  She shouted at the apartment above the garage.  She did not see Barten’s pick-up.  “Dad?”  She asked, turning.

            Wendel was in mid bite.  “Mmm.”  He swallowed quickly.  “Barten said he had to get some things done at the High School so he could be free to act as custodian for the Middle School party this evening.  He left extra early.”

            Arosa nodded, but her mind had already moved on to the next issue.  She was back at the foot of the stairs.  “Lila!”

            “I’ll be right down, Mom.”  Lila shouted back.  “Sheesh!”  She said to herself.  She took off the blue top for the second time and put on the lavender one.  Mom didn’t like the lavender one.  She said it was too revealing, but Lila was thirteen and she decided she could make her own decisions.  She looked at herself in the mirror, and then slipped on a sweater.  Sometimes it got cool the last day in October, even in Browning, Georgia; so she justified the sweater and skipped down the stairs.

            “Thirteen, going on thirty.”  Arosa breathed while her daughter smiled as if she did not have a care in the world.

            “All posh.”  Wendel said.                                                                                          

            “Morning Grandpa.”  Lila kissed his balding spot.  In many ways, including her beauty, Lila was very much like her mother, though neither would admit it.  Lila sat and sipped her juice.

            “The purple top?”  Arosa noticed despite the sweater.  Lila ignored her.

            “You going out with Mister Correll tonight?”  Lila asked, changing the subject.

            Arosa frowned but said no more about the top.  “Yes.  But I’ll be back at the school before the dance is over.”  She promised.

            Lila looked at her Grandfather who looked back at her and grinned.  “Oh, I don’t know about that guy.”  Lila and her Grandfather more or less spoke together.  It was the phrase Arosa was using lately whenever Lila appeared to show interest in a young man, not that Lila was really interested in anyone, yet.

            Arosa looked at them with steel in her eyes.  “David Correll is a nice gentleman.”  She said.  “Besides, I’m thirty-two, not thirteen.”  She tweaked her daughter’s nose.  “And I’m not exactly the young girl, lost and alone in a strange land anymore.”  She added that for Wendel.

            “What do I know?”  Wendel stood, his oatmeal unfinished.  “I just live here.”  He went for his briefcase, which he had left in the living room.

            “And you, young lady.  Ride to school?”  Arosa asked while she emptied Wendel’s dish and set it in the dishwasher.

            Lila shook her head.  “Ginger and Jennifer will be by any minute.  We’re walking”

            “All right.”  Arosa said as she picked up her own briefcase and followed Wendel out the front door.  “Don’t forget to lock up.”  She shouted back as Lila waved and watched the two cars leave the driveway.  Ginger and Jennifer came moments later, and Morgan was with them.

            “Did your mom give you any answers for the science test?”  Morgan asked.

            “She’s the school librarian.”  Lila responded with a touch of sarcasm in her voice.  “Not the science guy.”

            “Only Mister Gross would have a test on Halloween.”  Jennifer complained.

            Morgan was shrugging.  “It was worth a try.”

            “How about your Grandpa?”  Ginger asked hopefully, but Lila just did the eye roll and shake of the head for an answer.

            “Where’s Mary?”  Lila asked, as if she didn’t know.

            “Walking with Eddie.”  Jennifer grinned and someone giggled, and they left, all talking at once so anyone would wonder how they ever heard each other.  Lila forgot to lock the door, but it was a small town in the middle of Georgia.

                                                            *****

            Arosa pulled up to the light with her mind in another world.  Perhaps it was her comment about no longer being a stranger in this strange land that triggered it.  That and her date that evening, she told herself.  She was remembering her first husband, Lila’s father, not that she had any such ideas about David.  She furrowed her brow as the light changed.

            Prince Dunovan had been a great man.  She remembered how she felt at seventeen when they stood before the Priest on her wedding day.  Dunovan looked so tall so strong, and so intimidatingly handsome.  She remembered turning to her mother and father, the King and Queen of Nova, but all she saw in her father’s eyes was joy and pride, and her mother was crying.  Arosa imagined she might cry if Lila married.

            She looked again at the Prince.  “I promise my fidelity and devotion.”  He said.  Could she ask for more?  She looked to the Queen Mother, Callista, but the woman was stoic, as always.  Would Callista like her?  It was important to Arosa that Callista like her, but she did not expect it given the cool way the woman had treated her up to that point.  And Dunovan’s father?  He had died some five years earlier.  Dunovan was formally King of Truscas.  Would she manage as Queen?

            “Arosa.”  Dunovan spoke to her softly.  She did manage to look into his eyes, and she found welcome there. 

            “And I will respect you, my husband.”  She said, but in her heart she hoped, nay, begged to be able to love him, and be loved by him.  That was the one thing she wanted.  But thus it had been for ages; that the noble Lord and Lady should wed in a political union, bringing all of the lands and cities of the Bellican Coast closer for a generation.  Nova and Truscas would be united, now, in mutual support and succor, as the Priest called it.  And she would play her part.

            Arosa sniffed as she got out of her car and headed for the Middle School library.  She had loved Dunovan indeed, even if it had only been for such a short time.

                                                            *****

            Barten-Cur was in his pick-up, headed for the hardware store.  Stall three in the first floor girl’s room needed some real work.  Lady Arosa and Mister Carter had been reluctant to let him get a driver’s license at first, but he showed them.  He was a better driver and more respectful of the law than half of the natives on the roads, and that was a fact.

            Something came from the woods beside the road and Barten-Cur screeched to a halt.  It was a man.  While that would have gone by without notice under other circumstances, this one was different.  Barten-Cur could not exactly place the uniform, though he guessed it was Truscan, but this man was definitely a soldier.  There was no doubt about that.  And the man was staring at him.

            There was a honk!  Someone was behind him, and the soldier turned and trotted back into the woods            Barten-Cur started driving again, but he hardly knew what to think.  If they were Truscan, that might be bad enough, but if they came on behalf of the Empire, there could be real trouble.  Princess Arosa had to be told at once, he thought, but he shouldn’t bother her at work.  He had been reprimanded for that over and over.  And she had a date tonight with Mister Correll, the High School Principal, as well.  It would not do to interrupt her date.  No, no, Barten thought.  He would have to try and catch her in between work and going out.  He hoped he would remember to get to her in time.  If not, what could he do?  He had to look out for Lila, above all.

Tales of the Other Earth: Halloween Story 1 M/F Story

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            Wendel Carter loved puttering around the garden in the spring, setting down the mulch, planting flowers out front and vegetables in the back, fertilizing and trimming and setting out stones to keep the grass at bay; not that he grew much grass in the middle of nowhere, Georgia.  Still, it was therapy.  It kept him from thinking.  He knew school politics were bad from his years of teaching, but he never imagined how bad they could get until he accepted the position of Superintendent of Schools for the Browning School System, sadly referred to locally as the BS Schools.  That thought made him dig a little deeper.

            Gardening was therapy for another reason as well.  He paused long enough to wipe the sweat from his graying brow and take a long look at the empty house beside the brook.  He tried not to think about it, either.  He noticed that the white picket fence out front needed painting, as did the porch on the side of the house.  He turned his eyes to consider the little apartment above the garage where his mother used to live before she passed.  It needed work as well, but then none of that mattered.  It was the emptiness of the house and the emptiness he felt inside that claimed him and drove him to seek solace among the shrubs and flowers.  Sandra had been a good wife.  He could not have complained on that score, and Missy, his sixteen-year-old daughter had been the beat of his heart.  It still choked his throat and made tears well up into his eyes to think that the drunk, driving on the wrong side of the interstate, not only survived the wreck, but only got slapped on the wrist for killing a family – for destroying Wendel’s life and surely shredding his heart.             Wendel Carter shook his head and drove his spade into the hard red clay that pretended to be soil.  “That was four years ago.”  He told himself.  “Let it go, man.”  He tried to let it go, but he still had a few tears left.

                                                            *****

            Arosa stepped through the little shimmering hole in the air, holding tight to the sleeping three-year-old whose head snuggled into her shoulder  The little scamp was mumbling, but not squirming too badly which was good because Arosa had to hold on to her baby with one hand while her other hand grasped the hand of her faithful retainer, Barten-Cur.  The old man’s eyes were wide; fascinated with the prospect of the completely new and unknown world they were entering.  He noticed it was three hours before dawn in both places and Arosa knew there was not much to be seen in the dark, but she could not help smiling for the child-like innocence and wonder shown on the face of her retainer; because Barten-Cur’s fascination was truly that of a child, and in that respect he was much like Lila, her sleeping baby.  Her father used to say that the man was as loyal as a hunting dog, and almost as smart.  Still, he was a powerful man of magic.  It had taken both of them and some considerable sweat to open the hole between the worlds.

            “My Lady.”  Barten-Cur spoke softly as if afraid to disturb the child, or perhaps afraid to make their presence known in this new world of wonder.  “You must let me look around first.  There is no telling what may be lurking in the shadows.  There may be dragons or wolves or mandibar, or even dragons!”

            Arosa smiled again.  “Look here,” she said, letting go of his hand to place hers on Lila’s back, to comfort the sleeping, dreaming child.  They watched the hole they had made slowly close.  Soon, it was hardly bigger than a child’s ball, and then a woman’s ring and at last it completely disappeared.  “We go together.”  Arosa told her manservant.  “But you may keep your blade ready just in case.”

            Barten-Cur grinned with what teeth he had.  He was not usually permitted to carry sharp weapons.  Arosa, meanwhile, was straining her other senses as well as she could.  To be sure, she was very tired from the ordeal of opening the hole between the worlds, but she was fairly sure she could smell manure, and it smelled like ordinary enough cows.  There was a stream nearby, and she imagined they might do worse than following it.

            “This is farm country, my Lady.”  Barten-Cur confirmed; but Arosa was not sure if that was a good thing.  On the one hand, the closeness of people spoke against the nearness of wolves or other predators, but then men could be the worst predators of all when they wanted to be.  She imagined they would find out soon enough if these people were friendly to strangers, or not.

Ghosts part 17-END M/F Story

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Series:  Strange Tales   Story:  Ghosts   by M Kizzia   part 17 END 

            Mya was the first to arrive back at the scene of the accident.  She ran the whole way and was not tired in the least.  She never ran in her life before, her foot being the way it was.  Now, maybe she was making up for lost time, or at least she never before had such a reason to run, and she grinned at her own thoughts. 

            She stopped just before she got to the gate and noticed something she had not expected.  The young man and the suicide bomber were sitting side by side on the curb, talking quietly.  She could not hear what they were saying, and she did not intrude, knowing that would be rude, so she did what she could.  She said a little prayer that somehow they might find a way out of the pit they had thrown themselves into – that they might find a solution to the mess they had made of their lives.  Her heart went out to them, but she could do no more.

            Mya looked down and saw that her high heels had become flats, and she was grateful, knowing that she was going to have to climb up the grassy knoll that held the park bench.  She stepped up to the gate and smiled.  It was not that long ago she would have had to stand on tip-toes, and even then it would have been hard to open that big, heavy iron gate.  Now, she simply reached out, and it was an easy thing to do.  As she stepped on to the grass, she was filled with joy and gently closed the gate tight behind her.

            She noticed right away that the park bench was taken.  The minister was there with his newspaper neatly folded beside him, and she almost clapped to see the burly man beside him.  The man’s arm looked fully restored, and most of his face was whole as well.  “Thank you, thank you.”  She lifted that prayer as well.  Clearly, the minister still had some work to do, and just maybe he could add another name to that book of his in heaven.  She thought it was good that everyone had someone, and she had Nathan, except right at the moment, she did not have him.  She nearly doubled up for want of him, and she cried out.

            “Nathan!”  When she heard no response she almost collapsed.  She screamed, “Nathan!”  It was as loud as she could, and then she heard an answering call.

            “Mya!  Mya!”  He had come in the other gate and he was running to her.  He was running!  Mya jumped and started to run as well, but she did not get far before they were wrapped up in each other’s arms and he was kissing her everywhere on her face, on her forehead, eyelids, cheeks, ears, on the tip of her little nose, and he did not neglect her lips, and she kissed him right back before she finally pressed her head into his chest and shoulder.  They were crying, but there were no more sad tears left in them.  These were tears of pure joy.  They had found each other and they held each other so tight it was almost as if they were trying to absorb each other into the depths of their souls. 

            “I am so happy.  I am so happy.”  Mya kept repeating her words into his chest, and he also kept repeating the same phrase.

            “I love you.  I love you.”  He said.

            After a while, Nathan took a step back in order to look into Mya’s eyes where there was no hiding that special smile than showed everywhere on her face.  Nathan returned her smile as they wrapped up in each other’s arms and kissed for a very, very long time.  When the earth began to tremble beneath their feet, they thought it was only a result of what they were feeling.  When that trembling increased, though, they thought they had better look.  There was a hole opening up on the green between this world and someplace else, and they separated to stand side by side and watch in wonder, though they never quit holding hands.

            Neither knew where that other place might be, though they both knew very well.  All they could see was a brilliant light, pure and holy so it made them tremble, but warm and inviting so they knew they were welcome.  As usual, Mya was the first to speak.

            “Perpetual light.”  She named it, but it sounded like a question so Nathan responded.

            “It is.”

            “Do you know how much I love you?”  Mya asked.

            “I do.  And how much I love you?”

            “I do.”  Mya and Nathan squeezed each other’s hands.  “But I was thinking, now that I know what love is, do you know how much I love the one who first loved us?”

            “Exactly.”  Nathan affirmed her feelings and confirmed his own.  “With all your mind and all your heart and all your soul and all your strength.”

            “That is the first commandment.”  Mya said, looking up at Nathan once more, seeking his assurance, just in case.

            He nodded for her and that brought out her most radiant smile, and they turned and walked into that perpetual light, side by side and hand in hand, forever.

Ghosts part 16 M/F Story

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Series:  Strange Tales   Story:  Ghosts   by M Kizzia   part 16

            Nathan found himself in a funeral home.  He did not have to guess what was going on nor for whom the festivities were.  Since Nathan was cremated, there was no need for a graveside ceremony.  He listened from the door as the minister up front droned on in the funeral service.  The man talked about the love of God, but he hardly understood what he was talking about.  Still, he did get one thing right: that God loves us and he is merciful and giving, and right then and there Nathan changed his tune from accusing God of setting him up to thanking God for Mya.  He felt he could hardly thank God enough.

            This man also talked of perpetual light.  Nathan could vouch for the light.  He saw the angel and the old woman who knew all about loving God.  Nathan knew that love was the key.  He remembered the phrase about faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love, he thought to himself.  And again, he knew that was true.

            After the formal service there was a receiving line where everyone who attended, most of whom were church members or childhood friends of Stephen or Susan, could pay their condolences.  Nathan got in the back of the line and he thought of everything he wanted to say.

            He never knew what love really was until he met Mya.  His mother was bitter from her childhood days in the war.  His wife found him convenient for a time, and he thought he loved her, but now he realized he really did not.  He was just grabbing at what he saw as a kind face that would feed back to him what he needed to hear.  When she realized he was never going to be president of the company, she dumped him.  But for a minister?  Well.  He shrugged it off.

            He thought he should apologize to Lisa.  He never told his daughter about love.  He never taught her because it was something he did not understand himself.  That was a terribly sad thing both for him and his daughter, but he supposed it could not be helped.  Even sadder was watching her perpetuate the cycle of the lack of love.  She drove her husband away, scum that he was.  Nathan had no doubts about that.  And then she proceeded to pass the same dysfunction on to her two children. 

            Susan was just like her mother, getting harder and crustier every day.  Her two perfect children were perfect because they did not dare step out of line.  Yet Nathan had learned something about human nature in the last day or two.  Human nature was very resilient.  God made it so.  Nathan imagined in the years to come one or both of those children would become true rebels.  He only hoped and sent up a little prayer that it would not be the self-destructive kind of rebellion that lead to everyone’s heartbreak and an early grave.  He hoped something good might come out of it, like a new view of life and a real chance at love.

            Stephen, on the other hand, had married a wonderful girl.  It was too bad he was such a pin head.  He was going to lose her, Nathan had no doubt, and with her his great-grand.  She was the only child of his issue that maybe had a chance for real life.  God, how he wished he could be there to watch her and help her grow along the way.  He wished he could be there now since now he knew what love was.

            The line shuffled forward slowly and Nathan came to realize there were more people there than he imagined there would be.  He had supposed that it would be a very small affair.  Most of his old friends were already dead; well, just about all of them, and the few survivors were in far away places, mostly below the Mason Dixon line in retirement communities or nursing homes.

            Nathan jumped, just because he could.  He was twenty-something years old and he was so glad he would never see the inside of one of those nursing homes.  Maybe that suicide bomber did him a favor, and he grinned and thanked God again for yet another thing.  He felt the love of God very strongly at that moment, and he loved God right back just as strongly as he could.  God is good.  He kept thinking that, and he wondered if that was something he could tell Lisa.

            Lisa, I am all right.  God is good.  Don’t worry about me.  I have met the most wonderful girl, make that woman, and I am going to be with her, God willing, and happy forever.  To be sure, God gave her to me and she is everything I ever dreamed of.  She is twenty-something, but so am I now; but you know, even if she were seven, I think I would become seven just so I could be with her.

            He paused.  With that thought, he watched the last of his reluctance slip away.  It did not matter if they were both seven or both eighty-four.  He just loved her.  He just wanted to be with her, and she wanted to be with him, and that was that. 

             Lisa, I know I will be very happy; and he did know it.  I pray that you will be happy, too.  He could only pray for his daughter.

            Then Nathan hit on a thought.  It was not the goodness of God that was Lisa’s problem.  It was her trust.  It was her inability to trust God or anyone else for that matter.  It was her incessant need to be in control, to never let anything be out of control, to be in charge to be sure things stayed in control, the way that she wanted them to be.

            Lisa, he wanted to say, there is so much in life, in this world that we cannot understand when we are in the middle of it.  There is so much we cannot control, my own demise being exhibit “A.”  You can’t be in charge of death, or the weather, or of the way other people think and feel.  At some point you just have to let go and let God, as the Baptists say.  At some point you just have to trust in a God that is even greater than I can imagine, and I am standing on the cusp of running into him.  At some point, and honestly it is at all points in life, you can only do so much and then you have to trust God to work things out; and, you know?  If you will just give God a chance to be in charge, if you will just let God be in control, you may be surprised, like me, when he works things out in a way that is more wonderful and incredible than you can ever dream or imagine. Please, Lisa, just give God a chance.

            Nathan thought all of these things and more, but then he came to stand before his daughter.  He was flabbergasted when she reached out and shook his hand.  She squinted at him for a moment as if trying to place him and even asked, “Do I know you?”

            Nathan startled her by kissing her on the cheek.  “Just in this.”  He said.  “That God loves you and wants the best for you if you will let him give it to you, and your father loves you, too, and he will always love you even if he never told you so.”  Then he rushed down the line without speaking to anyone else until he came to Stephen’s daughter, little Emily.  He kissed her smack on the forehead.  “Be good and live a good life.”  He told her.  “And always remember that God loves you and your great-grandfather loves you too.”

            “Grandpa Nathan?”  Little Emily looked up at him and he winked and ran out of there as fast as he could.  He knew where Mya would be and he did not want to be late.

Ghosts part 15 M/F Story

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Series:  Strange Tales   Story:  Ghosts   by M Kizzia   part 15

            As the mist faded, Mya felt utterly lost and alone.  The fact that she found herself in a graveyard did not help one bit.  When she looked down, though, she saw it was the grave of her grandfather.  There was a space beside him for her grandmother when she died, but Mya knew Grandma was still alive because so far the space was untouched.  So why am I here?  She asked herself.  She could not see anyone around.  It was a slow walk in those heels to get to the top of the little hill, but she made it without mishap and there she looked all around and saw that she was not far from a canopy tent.  There were chairs set up there, and a little grave with the coffin waiting to be lowered to its final resting place.  Mya knew whose grave it was before she saw the stone that would be set up.  It was her own, and she tried to cry.  She felt she should cry for herself, but she could not cry.  She was much too happy about Nathan.

            Nathan!  That thought ran through her head like a shot.  She had to get back to him, but just then cars began to pull up on the narrow, one-way gravel drive.  People were getting out and coming to the graveside.  Mya recognized a couple of her childhood friends, her best friends, her only friends.  As a child with a crippled foot, she did not have many friends, and that almost did bring a tear to her eye.

            Then she saw her mother and she ran to her, almost stumbling once because of the heels.  That caused her to think before acting, and in the end she decided to accompany her mother from a little distance and again she nearly cried because she wanted a hug so badly. 

            She stood a step back and watched the others come.  Her relatives sat in the chairs.  The others stood, making nearly a full circle around her little grave.  Then the priest came and he talked about the love of God.  She knew that was true, absolutely, and she lifted up her heart to the almighty in thanksgiving for Nathan, and she realized then what Nathan had already figured out in the bathroom; that this whole thing was a set-up from the beginning.  That God knew all along that she and Nathan belonged together, but they never would have met if she had not missed the school bus, and they never would have even been close unless they died.

            “Thank you.”  She cried out to God.  “Thank you.”  And she felt then and there that she truly loved God even as he loved her and she felt warm and unafraid and never alone.  Still, she understood that for those gathered around the grave, these were hard words to hear.  If only she could tell them.  If only she could assure them of God’s love; but then she knew that they would learn some day, even as she had, and she prayed for every one of them that was sitting and standing there.

            She heard the priest talk about perpetual light, and she thought of the angel who glowed so brightly she could hardly look upon him, and again she felt the love of God flow through her, and she reciprocated and loved God all the more, and then all at once she understood something she had not quite understood before.

            The priest gave the benediction and Mya drew near to her mother, and she spoke, even knowing that her mother could not hear her.  “Mother.”  She said.  “I know what love is.  Mother.  Do you understand?  You did a wonderful job.  You have nothing to be sad about.  I know what love is, Mother.  God is love.  I am all grown up now, Mother, and God has given me the most wonderful man in the whole world to love.  And I do love him, Mother, with all of my heart, but first I loved you, only I did not understand what that was.”  Mya paused and reached out toward her mother’s face, but she did not touch.  All the same she saw her mother turn briefly to look in her direction.  “First with you, and now with Nathan, I know what love is, Mother.  God is love.”  And Mya watched while Sam, Mother’s friend, came up and placed his hand gently on her mother’s shoulder.

            “Sam.”  Mother reached up and patted that hand and then left her hand there as if not wanting him to go away.  “She would have made a beautiful woman.”  Mother said.  “I can almost see her all grown up and all filled out.”  Mother tilted her head to the side a little the way Mya did once and though she was not looking at Mya she spoke this way:  “I see her in a purple sundress and lavender heels to match, and she is lovely.  No, she is beautiful.”

            “I am so sorry.”  Sam said as Mya leaned forward and kissed her mother on the cheek.  Mother paused and put her hand to her cheek and then began to weep as Sam helped her back to her feet.  Mya watched while Sam escorted her to the waiting limo, and Mya finally cried for her mother.  She knew her mother was only twenty-seven and Sam was not much older.  She hoped and prayed that they would be good for each other and she hoped and prayed that her mother would never forget about love.

            “You did I good job, Mother.”  Mya repeated herself.  “I know what love is.”  Then the cars pulled off and Mya thought to run.  She pulled her heels off to run faster because she knew where Nathan would be and she felt if she did not see him soon, she would burst for the love of him.