Wednesday's Child
In an alley behind the Union Station Emma Brighton has set up camp. A beat up cardboard refrigerator box, has been both her bed and shelter while she's been in Ogden. The last two days she has been pan handling; but today no one seems to be charitable. Emma is digging through the trash behind Chan's China Palace restaurant in hopes of finding something to eat.
She pushes back something greenish and kind of fuzzy uncovering a white bag at the bottom of the trash can. Inside the bag is a kids meal box, she's hit the mother load! Inside is a hamburger with barely a bite taken out of it, along with a few french fries. Taking a bite of the cold stale burger she thinks of all the kids meals she has wasted in her life, and wonders how many homeless people had finished them off.
Hey girly get out of my can, this is my all you can eat buffet, not yours! Emma turns to see a short haggard homeless man standing behind her. At most he's five feet tall, his dirty clothes hang off of him, and his hair and beard are long and matted with patches of gray. He shakes as he yells at her, That's my happy meal,Sally, give it up.
My names not Sally, Emma replied.
Wha? Who said you could talk to me? The vagrant man barked back at her. That's the problem with you kids today, no respect. He yells as he lunges for the burger. The two of them wrestle to the ground for the now half eaten burger.
Just then an old green Impala pulled into the alley. The bum sees it first and he immediately jumps to his feet. It's her! It's the ol' lady in the green car. Looking down at Emma on the ground he tries to pull her up by her collar. Come on Sally, if she gets ya, you'll never come back.
As the car gets closer the crazy homeless man runs away screaming, Run Sally Run! Leaving Emma lying in the alley. As he runs away Emma realizes that the cameo pendent necklace her grandmother had given her was ripped off in the scuffle. She begins to search the surrounding area franticly.
Honey, are you okay? The elderly woman asks as she steps out of the Green Impala. I saw that man attack you. Did he hurt you? I think he stole my cameo necklace, it was my grandmothers; she left it to me after she died. Emma said sadly. I'm so sorry sweet heart; do you live close by, would you like me to take you to the police station to file a report? The elderly woman asked.
No that's okay. Emma responded.
Is your family nearby, or are you alone? The old woman asked looking very concerned. Emma stammers for a moment not sure what to say, then the old woman puts her hand out, and says, Where are my manners, I haven't introduced my self, I'm Sister Ann, I bet you haven't had a good home cooked meal in a few days have you? Sister Ann asks while shaking Emma's hand.
I better not, but I am so hungry. Emma thinks to herself. She looks at Sister Ann, and thinks to herself how much this kindly old woman reminds her of her own grandmother, right down to the blue hair. Don't get in the car with strangers. Emma thinks to her self, Well, I am a run a way, I guess that doesn't really matter at this point. Besides this is the kindliest old woman I have ever seen, what could she do to me?
Sister Ann lives about twenty miles out side of Ogden, just off Interstate 15. During the car ride Emma falls asleep, and it is the best sleep she has had for days.
Wake up sweetie, we're here. Sister Ann says gently. Emma opens her eyes; she seems a little distraught as her conscious mind catches up with her. As they get out of the car, Emma takes note that the house seems to be in a very secluded area. Would you look at that sunset. Sister Ann says with a sigh. It's so beautiful this time of year.
Stepping into the house, Emma thinks to herself. This is just like Andy Taylor's house on the Andy Griffith show. I think I've just stepped into a time warp, then the smell hits her. Oh my, what is that? I have never smelt anything so good. Emma remarks.
Thank you child. The elderly woman says. That must be my pot roast you smell, that my dear is our dinner. Sister Ann says as she shows Emma to the bathroom. Honey, why don't you wash up before supper.
In the bathroom Emma notices the large old style tub, and thinks how nice it would be to take a long hot bath in that tub. After washing her hands and face, she makes her way out of the bathroom. The house is dark, except for a light coming from down the hall. She walks toward it, as she does she notices old black and white photographs of a young boy not more then five years old. Emma thinks to herself how much this kid looks like little Ricky from the I Love Lucy Show. This is like the Nick at Night house. She thinks to herself with a grin.
Come on honey, you don't want your supper to get cold. Sister Ann motions to Emma to have a seat at the table. Emma with eyes and jaw wide-open stares at the feast set before her. Emma begins to eat from her already prepared plate. Sister Ann stops her. Wait honey we must say grace first. After the prayer Emma begins to devour the best home cooked meal she has ever had.
After dinner Sister Ann asks Emma if she would like to spend the night, with out hesitation Emma says yes, and asks if it would be alright if she could take a bath in that beautiful bath tub. Yes my dear in fact, I have a nice clean nightgown you can sleep in. (Emma starts to help clear the dishes.) Oh no child, I'll take care of that. You go and take your bath. Sister Ann tells her.
After a long hot bath Emma and Sister Ann are in the living room drinking hot cocoa. Emma feels so warm and comfortable in this house, in this wool nightgown, that fits her perfectly. Making small talk, Emma asks about the small boy in the pictures. That's my son. Sister Ann replays.
Your son, but aren't you a nun? Emma asks slightly confused.
Sister Ann laughs, Oh no, this is Utah, I'm a Mormon. Emma thinks to herself that it's kind of odd that all the pictures of her son are of him as a little boy. Maybe he died, she thinks to herself, not wanting to be rude she leaves it at that.
Well honey why don't I show you to your room, you must be tired. Sister Ann takes Emma by the hand and leads her toward the kitchen. They stop in the kitchen, she moves a throw rug aside to reveal what seems to be cellar doors, as she opens them she explains to Emma that below the house is an old bomb shelter that she converted into guest rooms. Down the stairs they go and into a very cold room, with a one dresser and a bed. The walls seem to be made of concrete. Well if you need anything just holler, Sister Ann shuts the door behind her.
Emma stands alone in the cold concrete room; she begins to get a very uneasy feeling. She then tries to open the door, to find that it has been locked from the outside. Okay Emma, don't panic. She says to her self. Your in a concrete room under some ones house in the middle of no where, no windows and the only door out is locked.
Looking around the room she spots a small sliding door on one of the walls, it is about two feet by two feet. She slides it open to reveal a small crawl space; but she is too large to fit into it. Emma slides the door shut again, and begins to look under the bed for anything she may find.
Just then the lights go out. Emma screams as she fumbles in the dark to the door, and begins pounding, shaking the doorknob, and screaming. After a few moments in the pitch black room she stops screaming and tries to regain her composer.
All right Emma give your eyes a few moments to adjust, then you'll be able to see a little. She says to herself trying to calm down. While standing silently in the dark room she hears the sound of the sliding door opening and something scooting along the floor.
Who's there? She says completely lost in the dark. Then she remembers that she has a Bic lighter in the pocket of her nightgown, that she took from her mother's purse along with the money for the bus. Emma holds the lighter at arms length and lights it. In the flickering light she sees a small boy on his knees, he is dressed like a cowboy, his cowboy hat is on his lap, his head is bowed.
As she steps closer to him, she realizes that he is saying grace. Amen, He says as he puts his hat back on. His head pops back at an unnatural speed, his eyes glow red, and his mouth full of razor sharp fangs. Emma jumps back, drops the lighter, and her mind snaps as the boy creature pounces on her and begins ripping into her throat. Her screams quickly turn into wet gurgles and then just the sound of slurps as he finishes his meal.
Tom Corbett Space Cadet to Space Patrol, come in Space Patrol, over.
The walkie-talkie crackles as the tiny voice repeats, it's the voice of a small child. Sister Ann is sitting at her chair in the living room reading a magazine. She picks up the small two way radio. Space Patrol to Space Cadet, has the mission been completed? Over. Sister Ann says back playfully.
Yes Space Patrol, I am finished, over. The tiny voice answers back.
Did you wash for face and hands? Over. Sister Ann asks.
Yes Space Patrol, and I put my clothes in the hamper. Space Cadet Tom Corbett is now waiting for bath time, over.
Good boy, mommy will be right in. Sister Ann shuts off the Walkie-Talkie and slips it in the pocket for her dress as she makes her way to the kitchen. In the kitchen she once again moves the rug back and opens the door to the bomb shelter.
At the bottom of the stairs stands a small pale boy in nothing but his underwear. Come on Scotty. She says. He runs up the stairs and into her arms. Sister Ann is almost eighty years old, but she picks him up like she was a young mother.
She carries him into the bathroom were there is a hot bath waiting for him. Scotty plays with a toy boat and some plastic army men while his mother baths him. As she dries him off, she can see out the window that the sun is starting to rise.
Come on honey I need to get you downstairs to your room, it's your bedtime. Sister Ann says as she hurries him down stairs under the house.The picture on the door reads Scotty's room; it is a hand drawn portrait by the boy himself.
As we make our way through the door, there is a beat up wooden rocking horse, next to a dresser. On the dresser a six shooter cap gun in a holster, a cowboy hat, some marbles, and a few very old Batman comics. The walls are adorned with posters of, Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, and Tom Corbett Space Cadet. Sister Ann is reading a bedtime story to Scotty, who is in his pajamas, holding his favorite stuffed animal, Jocko the sock monkey. This would be a typical Norman Rockwell picture, except for one thing, Scotty is not in a bed; he's in a coffin.
Sister Ann is reading one of his favorite stories, Jack and the Beanstalk. She has read this story to Scotty for over forty years, he never gets tired of it. He squirms with anticipation as he waits for his favorite part. You can see the excitement in his face as she starts to read in a deep loud voice, Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman, Be he alive, or be he dead I'll have his bones to grind my bread." This is where Scotty interrupts the story, as he always does.
Momma, you know what I d do if I was Jack.
Ann stops with a smile, knowingly she asks, What would you do Scotty? I'd rip that ogres throat out and drink all his blood, that's what I'd do. He answers.
Sister Ann reaches over and kisses him on the head, I know you would, my little man. After the story, he hops out of his coffin and kneels for his bedtime prayer. God bless mommy, and me, keep us safe, please watch over us, Sister Ann whispers in his ear, and he continues, Thank you for bringing Emma to us, please bless her soul and keep her with you. Amen.
Back into the coffin, Ann covers him up and gives him a kiss. Goodnight my sweet son, pleasant dreams, she says as she closes the lid to the coffin.
Where am I?.... It's so dark I can't see a thing,....where am I? She thinks to her self again. Who am I? Her words ring out as she repeats to her self, Who am I?.. Am I?..... Am I.....Emma......... I'm Emma Brighton, The daughter of Michael and Virginia Brighton; I live at 182 Dresden way, Imperial Nebraska. I have a pony named Mr. Jinkers.
It's starting to come back to her now. No wait, mom and dad got divorced, and mom married that jerk she was having an affair with...Ted. Ted sold Mr. Jinkers to someone out in California, and I was on my way to find Mr. Jinkers, when I ran out of money in Utah.
Then this nice old lady took me in. It's so dark in here I can't see a thing. Emma says as she sits against a wall in a fetal position. More memories began to come back to her. This room it was very cold before, but now I don't feel a thing.
Then she hears someone at the door, she can hear the key go into the lock a twist, the lights turn on as the door opens. The room is bright; Emma's eyes flutter for a moment as she tries to adjust to the bright light. As her eyes regain the ability to focus she is looking at Sister Ann who is dressed in a very stained smock, and wearing large leather gloves, next to her is a wheelbarrow.
Sister Ann pulls an old ax out of the wheelbarrow. That's when Emma sees it, there is a body at Sister Ann's feet, a dead body. The throat has been ripped out. Emma gasps as she realizes that the body at Sister Ann's feet looks exactly like her. In shock Emma sits on the bed as her memories catch up with her.
This room, I was locked in this room. The lights went out, I was attacked...Oh my....I'm dead. Emma says in disbelief. She begins to scream as she watches Sister Ann lift the ax above her head and bring it down on the throat, separating the head from the body. No! She screams, as she tries to grab the ax from Sister Ann, it is useless, Emma's a ghost.
Her cries turn to sobs as Sister Ann continues to chop her body into pieces. Separating the arms and legs from the torso, she continues splattering what little blood is left in her body. Sister Ann then begins to put the pieces in the wheelbarrow. Emma follows her out of the room as Sister Ann pushes the body filled wheelbarrow down a long hall.
This is always the hardest part. Sister Ann thinks to herself as Emma's ghost runs around her crying Why?, Why? Ann tries to ignore it, but can no longer. Stop Crying! I said Stop Crying! Sister Ann has stopped pushing the wheelbarrow and is staring directly at Emma.
Emma realizes that Sister Ann is talking to her. You can see me? Emma says more confused then ever. Yes I can see you; I can always see them afterwards. She says annoyed. Sometimes they scream like you, sometimes they just stand by quietly, and sometimes I don't think they realize they're dead.
I am a Ghost? Emma says, trying to grasp the situation.
Yes child. The old woman confirms.
Why?...why did you do this to me? Emma says shaking her fists at Sister Ann. Well honey, Sister Ann replies. You want to know why, I guess I owe you that much. As she picks up the wheelbarrow and begins to push it, Come on, I'll tell you.
It was 1959; we were in Taiwan. Frank, that's my husband, he was an Importer / Exporter, this job required him to travel a lot. Being a very devout Mormon, the family was very important to him, he would take Scotty and I on most of his trips; we also felt it would be good for Scotty to see other cultures.
We had gone to Taiwan to visit one of the factories that Frank had been working with. While we were there we spent one-day sight seeing; we had lost track of time when we realized that the sun was going down. Driving back to the hotel we had gotten lost. We had driven for hours, trying to find our way back to the hotel, by this time it had started raining.
Scotty had fallen asleep in the back seat. Out of nowhere this Chinese woman is standing in the road right in front of us, She was as white as ivory, with long matted black hair, her clothes were a tattered mess. Frank swerved the car trying not to hit her, we went off the road and down an embankment, slamming into a tree, Frank was thrown through the windshield and was impaled by several tree branches, he died instantly. I was trapped in the car, pinned in by the dashboard. Miraculously, Scotty wasn't hurt. I told him to stay down not wanting him to see his father.
Looking around trying to surmise the situation, that's when I saw her, the woman in the road, she was now high above us in the tree. She slowly made her way down the tree, not like a human, but rather like a spider. She made her way to Frank, one of the smaller branches had gone completely through his throat, she began to drink from this wound. I screamed, that's when she spotted us.
She looked up from Frank; her eyes were glowing red. She slowly crawled to us; it was unnatural, like I said she moved like a spider. She made her way to me through where the windshield used to be. Her long talon fingers grabbed me by the throat. She was so close I could smell her foul breath, and see a mouth full of blood drenched fangs. This creature then put her nose close to my face and took a long deep breath as if she was smelling me. She quickly stopped and put her nose in the air, she looked back at me bewildered as if she smelt something else.
I could feel Scotty shaking from underneath that back seat. Our eyes were still locked onto each other, and then she began to smile, it was as if we both realized it at the same time. I started to scream, NO! As she made her way to the back seat. She quickly pulled Scotty up; I grabbed for him, screaming, No! Not my baby! , I struggled but couldn't hold onto him, She took him into the woods, I was left holding one of his shoes. I could hear him screaming as she fed on him, I tried franticly to get out of the car, but I was pinned.
The next morning a farmer from one of the villages found me, and the authorities were called in. Scotty's body was found about one hundred yards from the accident. I told the authorities what had happened, but they felt I was delusional, due to my head injury.
Frank was a military man before he got involved in the Import /Export business, one of his good friends from the military had some pull, and the bodies and I were flown back home the next day by a military plane.
As it so happens only one body would be buried. You see as the bodies lie in the mortuary, waiting for the coroner to do his report the following day, Scotty's rose. He had bitten the night security guard; the security guard managed to get away before Scotty could kill him. They found the security guard rambling like a mad man, of course no one believed him. The report said that body snatchers took Scotty and wounded the security guard in the process.
I knew the truth, a mother always does. I was on my knees praying when, I heard him calling me, It took him two days, but the little guy found his way home. You see Emma, family is forever. And now you know, the Lord gave me my son back, and provides nourishment for Scotty, by bringing us lost sheep like you.
Emma and Sister Ann are now in the furnace room, this is a giant furnace that was installed to dispose of trash, it also works well to incinerate bodies.
Ann begins to put the body parts in the furnace. Emma's soul begins to drift away, as the flames exhume her body. Sister Ann throws the last part; the head into the furnace Emma's ghost is gone. May the Father bless your soul sweet child. Sister Ann Prays.
Standing alone. Well I got a lot of cleaning to do, and look at the time, I better get started I don't want to be late. Sister Ann says to herself.
Two hours later at, The Church of Jesus Christ Later Day Saints, just outside of Ogden, the congregation piles in for another Sunday service. They are greeted by heavenly music coming from the organ. As the service starts Bishop Jacobson, steps to the podium, before I start, I'd just like to say thank you to Sister Ann for the beautiful organ music she plays every Sunday, your music puts us all in the right frame of mind. Bishop Jacobson says as he continues to praise Sister Ann.
You know she has served this church for more then forty years, you are an inspiration to every one here Sister. Thank You. With that there is a smattering of applause, Sister Ann sitting at the organ smiles back slightly embarrassed. Bishop Jacobson smiles at her and starts his sermon.
Congregation, today I'd like to talk about The Family, by our own faith we know that family is forever. Sister Ann nods her head in agreement, as she thinks about her precious Scotty, waiting for her back at home.
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