Well this is a long chapter, so I put little marks where you can take a break
Beep Beep*
I blinked as the sound of my alarm clock raced to my brain.
What? I blinked again, the room becoming clearer. Do I have work today? No. Do I? I remembered talking to my supervisor about getting the day off, but couldn’t remember if the motion actually went through.
The room was black except for three bright red numbers at the corner of my eye: 6:01 it proudly displayed.
I yawned and tried to get up but as I turned my body a wave of nausea washed over me and before I realized it I had flopped back on the bed unable to move a muscle. I soon tried again and this time sitting up before the nausea hit, but I wasn’t prepared for it and ended up falling to the floor with a loud “thump”
Pain flared in my chest and I was finally awake, but there was a beeping sound coming from above me.
“What the hell,” I groaned. The ground felt didn’t feel like my bed, but it wasn’t uncomfortable; if it wasn’t for that damn beeping I think I could fall asleep here.
Beep Beep* Beep Beep*
That damn beeping.
Get up* Get up*
“Whaaat?”
Get up* Get up*
The floor was feeling really comfortable. I snuggled against it, feeling the carpet fibers rubbing against my face.
Get up* Got work*
“Work? Work? Do I have work today?” I tried to get up, but the floor had its tendrils around me, keeping me down.
Get work*
“I applied for that day off right?” I pushed against the floor, like someone doing a pushup, but couldn’t even get my arms straight.
Get up* Get up*
The floor felt so comfortable, and my eyes were feeling particularly heavy at that moment. Suddenly the beeping became a heartbeat to my mind, and with its consistent and predictable beeping I found myself falling asleep like a baby in its mother’s arms.
1
Beep Beep Beep Beep ‘Ring’ Beep Beep ‘Ring’
The heartbeat was having an erythema and I slowly opened my eyes only to close them again as bright sunlight washed over me. A sour lump grew in my forehead as I tried to get up and the questions from last night (or whenever I fell on the floor) came floating up.
Beep Beep ‘Ring’
I shot up as the sound of the phone crossed my brain, but I got up too fast and grasped for one of the chairs to keep me up.
There are no chairs in my room and I fell to the ground with another ‘thump’.
When I came to, Bane was licking my face and by the sound of his soft whimpers I knew he was worried.
“It’s okay, I’m just a little light headed.” I felt like someone lodged a bolder in my cranium and I just wanted to go back to sleep, sometimes I feel like that would have been a better decision than the one I actually chose.
I got up, slower this time, and paced towards the kitchen with my hand covering my throbbing head, wincing at every beam of light.
My heart seemed to freeze for a second as I passed Bane’s cage. Inside was a small blue… thing, it looked out right terrified, shrinking back into the ribbed corners of the box. It’s eyes were half the size of its head, their purple hue too rich, and the tears too real. It had a two toned blue and purple mane, making it seem like someone’s lost teenage girl had her way with it, but something I didn’t see because of the lighting, was the spiral horn that protruded from its forehead.
I blinked again, trying to see if I was confusing it with one of Bane’s squeaky toys, but that only made my head throb more. Any hope of it being fake was crushed when Bane returned to his cage and it leapt at him, clutching his leg for dear life as he licked its forehead comfortingly.
I stood there, watching as whatever it was calmed down. I couldn’t move and felt like someone ripped a hole in reality, but before I knew it I clamped my eyes shut, ignored the crescendo of pain, and started for the kitchen again.
Once my bare feet landed on the cool linoleum floors, I felt my nerves relax, but heat soon dominated again as the light of the midday sun blared in my eyes. I put an apple cinnamon K cup in the Kerige, Bridget bought me after she got me hooked on the stuff, and went to the medicine cabinet for some aspirin. When I glugged two of god’s pain seeking missiles, I took my cup of coffee and picked up the phone.
“Who the hell called me?” I said. Looking at the phone I saw a number that I didn’t reconize with the timestamp at 11:58 am “That can’t be right. What time is it?” I took a sip of flavored caffeine, feeling its heat slither down my throat, as I looked at the digital clock on the stove. It read 12:02 in bright red letters. Suddenly the inside of my nose felt like it was on fire. Coffee burned through my sinuses, I gagged, feeling the hot mess dribble out my nose.
“What the fuck!” I shouted once the coughing died. “I”m late for work!”
I sprinted, but felt my leg slip, nearly ending with my face on the floor. I recovered passing through the connecting doorway between the kitchen and living room, but once my left foot landed on the carpeted floor. I fell, hitting my head on the ground. Bane howled, rushing to my side while leaving his charge in a blubbering mess of fear and tears. I could feel his rough tongue lapping my forehead, but couldn’t see him. Everything was going blurry, the throbbing pain was overwhelming and I thought I felt myself leak from my left foot.
“I knew getting your house key would save your life.”
Huh? When did the door open? Who’s there?
I could see someone standing on the doormat, that she was wearing a pair of loose gray sweat pants with blue and black skechers, even the lime green laces, but I couldn’t tell who it was.
What’s going on? Why is my head trying to explode on me? Why is everything getting dark?
“Relax, Eric,” a distant yet familiar voice said. “I’ll take good care of you, now go to sleep.”
“Whack”
Everything went black.
2
Soft. Everything felt soft, but I can’t see anything. The only thing I could see was the color black, yet, I can’t complain, the dark is so soothing, and the tender bristles so relaxing. Letting out a breath I didn’t know I was holding, I could feel my body relax as I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
3
You know that feeling you get when you don’t want to get up for school? That’s what I feel like right now.
I am in that lucid place between blissful sleep and the hauntings of wakefulness, yet no matter how hard I tried to push back down into the dream world, something tugged me back to the land of the awake.
I groaned.
“Oh, looks like you’re finally going to join us.”
I know that voice!
I groaned again, twitching my hand to find out where it was in space and time, and it responded immediately to my command. I then twitched my feet and felt pain in my left foot, prompting me to open my eyes and let out a surprised yelp.
“Holy crap, Eric!” Bridget said, catching me and keeping me from hitting the back of my head on the coffee table. As the world stopped spinning, I could feel her warm arms wrap around me. That warmth spread throughout my body, calming my mind and easing my pain.
Bridget Nightingale never did anything half assed, she might not always be in the right, but she gave everything her all. Sometimes this meant she said the wrong thing at the wrong time, or the right thing at the right time. This time, thankfully, it was the latter.
“You know we got the day off right?”
What?
I looked around the room, a sudden sense of idiocy flashing in my mind.
How could I have been so stupid?
I punched the couch, hearing a sudden yelp near the door, and grumbled as I shook the sleep off. I looked into Bridget’s gem green eyes and took a deep breath to calm my rattled nerves. The breath was cut off as the no pain in my head marked the end of the splitting headache I had this morning.
“What would I do without you, Brid-JET!!!” I shouted as my bandaged foot hit the floor, sending a spike of pain shooting into my brain.
“Easy, Eric, you’ll reopen the gash in your foot like that.”
It was like I placed my bare foot on a pile of burning ash. “What happened?”
“You stepped on a broken piece of your coffee cup,” she said with a smile. “There was a lot of blood, but I got you cleaned and bandaged up in ten minutes flat.”
I looked at the bottom of my foot, trying to ignore the burning pain, and saw that it was stained red. My heart stopped, I couldn’t breath. Blood. My entire foot was engulfed in blood. I flinched, memories of screaming hospital patients flooding my mind. Deep red scars lining the pure white linen of the sterile hospital beds. Screams of agony as burn victims were wheeled into the ICU. I screamed again when I saw a red headed women with a thick white bandage covering her right eye.
Then quiet.
The visions of Shady Grove Hospital dimmed as I was wrapped in powerful arms.
“I’m sorry. I-I should h-have told you not to look at your foot.” Bridget said, tears flowing from her eyes. “Please forgive me.”
I couldn’t say a word, my tongue tied into too many knots to let a single syllable loose, so instead I returned her hug, pressing my face into the nape of her neck like a small child would her parents after a nightmare.
We stayed like that until I could utter two words. “It’s fine.”
I let go and sat up, taking another deep breath before asking: “So what do you want to do?” She stared at me until her arm moved, attracting my attention; I looked down and saw a set of deep bite marks etched into her lower forearm near her hand. “Where did you get that?”
“I got them by trying to pet a scared baby unicorn,” she said with a straight face.
“Are you joking? There are no unicorns on earth.”
“Yeah, Bane is protecting one in his cage.” she pointed to the metal box near the door where two giant purple eyes were staring over a black mass that was my dog. There was a small ‘epp’ followed by the eyes vanishing behind the black mass. “She’s really timid and I don’t blame her for biting me. Heck, I probably would have done the same thing if I found myself in a world where giants lived.”
I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. I tried to get up, but stopped after putting the lightest amount of pressure on my bandaged foot. So I sat there, looking at Bane, waiting for him to move and reveal this unicorn to me. Fear began to wrap its icy tendrils around my neck.
“Close and lock the cage.” were the first words out of my mouth after a nearly ten minute gap of nothing.
“It is, I thought it might make her feel safer if there was something between her and the monsters of her new world.” Bridget got up and moved to the kitchen while I tried to get comfortable with my new injury.
When she came back she carried the roll of thick white gauze I left in my medicine cabnet. “Give me your foot please.” she didn’t wait for me to answer and physically grabbed my foot, but didn’t yank or squeeze, gently lifting it so it could rest on my lap. “Look away so you don’t see the red stuff.” her voice was soft yet demanding. I turned my head, feeling the gauze on my foot being cut by a pair of cold scissors before hearing the new gauze being cut and applied.
“I’ll repeat, what do you want to do?” I said once Bridget came back to the couch.
“I don’t know, video games?”
“Sure,” I said with a shrug. I tried to get up, but was held down by Bridget’s hand.
“You sit there, I’ll get the games. What do you wanna play?” I looked to my left to see those same purple eyes hide behind my now sleeping dog. Bridget followed. “Double Dash it is then.”
Throughout our balloon battles and races, the baby unicorn showed herself more and more, maybe from the joyful “Wahoos” Mario made whenever he jumped over a rainbow ramp, or maybe she had a kind of childish curiosity about the thing that was once black giving off so many bright and wondrous colors; whatever it was I was able to see her entire blue body by the time the game switched to Mario Party 5.
While Bridget earned the mini game star I couldn’t help but look towards the door to get a glimpse of the once thought mythical beast. Everytime I did so she’d flinch back only to be drawn forth again whenever I lost at Lake Skater or one of the other mini games.
Slowly I became more comfortable, beginning to really get into the game because when something that isn’t normal becomes locked behind bars it doesn’t seem so scary. Part of me feels that the feeling is mutual.
“Oh yeah, who got the dream star,” Bridget hollered as Eldstar bounced over Peach’s body. “Me that’s right.” I had come in fourth, getting thoroughly screwed by both Toad and Koopa Kid. “Looks like you’re paying for lunch, Buddy.” This came with a hearty slap on the back followed by more gloating.
“I never promised to buy you lunch!”
“No, you didn’t, but we can’t go over to my house and get food. Plus, my little cheering section has got to be hungry after that victory.”
“Cheering section? I was your opponent not your cheerleader.”
“I’m not talking about you, Dompy. I’m talking about the little unicorn.” Bridget pointed towards the blue unicorn that was silently hoof pumping thin air. “How long has she been in there? Two maybe three hours? She’s got to be hungry by now.”
“What, ohhh, you mean her,” I said slapping myself in the face.
“Yeah, Twine Nuts, now you stay there I’ll go cook us some pancakes.” I knew there was no pancake mix, but I let her go, hoping she’d figure that out herself.
While she was gone I took a look at the unicorn. She seemed to be messing with the lock on Bane’s cage as secretly as Mario when he tries to hide his mushroom addiction. Her little hooves would catch the handle and a light would shine in her eyes, but that would just as quickly be snuffed out as the handle would drop with a small “clink”.
From the stories, Bridget told me, a lot of the children want to go inside the habitat with the wild animals. They feel comfortable enough to walk on the same ground as a man eating animal. All of these hopes were swiftly crushed, but one person managed to get inside. I closed my eyes for a brief moment as I imagined the bright and somewhat chilly day when a twelve year old named Annie Mayweather succeeded.
Annie Mayweather and her mother Mary Mayweather were in one of Bridget’s tour groups. Annie wore a pink tee shirt with the words “Cathedral School” on top. Her and nine of her other classmates were on a fieldtrip with girls wearing a pink shirt and boys wearing blue. Along with the shirt, Annie wore a loose pair of knee high capri jeans. There was a light gust of pre winter wind and everyone else had worn their tee shirt over top of their jackets, everyone but Annie, who said she likes the cold.
Bridget lead the entire group past the mountain lion cage, wearing a thick Maine Wildlife Park hoodie over her uniform, stopping to look at the animals. All of the children had a clipboard and a single sheet of paper. A worksheet they needed to fill out and hand in to the teacher, Mrs Cromwell, before the day was over.
Everything had been going well, the kids were enjoying themselves, Mark Whiten, an eleven year old boy, had nearly gotten himself stuck between the bars at the Canadian lynx exhibit, and the adults had a good laugh when he was finally freed. Overall it was a chill day, and everyone wanted to get the last exhibit done so they could get home before the wind picked up.
There were four adults not including Bridget, and three were discussing either giving the children rides home or how to shut Mark up about mooning the fisher trainer, while the fourth was watching the kids, but little Annie wanted an up close view of the mountain lion, so when her mother turned away to take a puff of her cigarette she was holstered up by Mark and one of the other boys.
“Rub his butt for me, kay Annie,” Mark said in the quietest voice he could muster, which was surprisingly quiet.
“I don’t think he’ll like that—” but before Annie could finish her sentence, Mark pushed her off of the ledge.
Bridget jumped out of her skin when she heard Annie’s scream. She had been checking her phone to see if I texted her about movie night (That night we were supposed to see the 1987 Robocop) but I hadn’t. Putting her phone away she looked at the other mothers wondering what happened, but once the loud “CRRRAAACK” came from twelve feet below, they knew. She wasted no time and bolted from the bridge, dripping her clipboard while she ran for the nearest underground entrance.
“What did you do!” one of the mother’s yelled at Mark, who is often blamed when things went wrong, but Bridget didn’t hear them, she knew what time of the year it was.
Annie’s screams of pain could be heard through the two foot stone walls that lined the underground tunnels and only got louder the closer she got to the chain linked fence that separated the tunnel from the habitat.
Mountain lions were highly territorial, only allowing those trusted few to come in without slitting their throats and crushing the windpipe with their massive jaws, and now that it was mating season, Annie had about a minute before she was attacked.
“Bridget, what happened?” A coworker who happened to be testing a newly ordered tranq dart gun said. Bridget didn’t answer and grabbed him by his shirt, not even stopping to tell him what was going on, or what the scream meant. Physically dragging him, she came upon the chain link door. Quickly she put the key into the hole, feeling each locking pin clink into place. The co worker knew what was going on, that a little girl had fallen into the mountain lion pit and cocked the dart gun. It was time to put the money spent to good use.
Hearing the screams intensify, Bridget didn’t need to look to know that Solo, the male mountain lion, had found her. The lock opened, and once the door slid outward, the smell of dirt and grass hit her at full force. Bridget hesitated for the briefest of moments, not even fast enough for her co worker to notice but it happened. Then she bolted out, hearing the screams from above as the chaperones saw the incoming threat to one of their own.
Sweat poured down her head as adrenaline pumped through her system, fueling her courage while her brain shut off and she ran solely on emotions. A loud roar from the king of this jungle gave the helpless child her one and only chance to get out of his territory before he ate her for lunch. Bridget, trusting her co worker with her life, moved between Annie and the monster arms spread wide. Now she was staring into Solo’s deep black eyes, hoping that he would be confused for a long enough time to let her coworker fire the dart. It worked and seconds later, Solo fell to the ground as the new tranq formula began its trek through his body, knocking him out in mere seconds. Her adrenaline still pumping, Bridget grabbed Annie, the sound of a mother’s sigh clearly heard from over fifteen feet away, and running out of the cage before Nala, the female Solo was courting, came to find them.
The sight of the red stained capri legging was something Bridget could still see whenever she passed the mountain lion exhibit.
In the end Bridget got a medal for her mindless courage and a hearty slap on the back from her boss, but she is still taunted by the memory of almost losing someone under her care. Even today, a full year after the incident, she is haunted by the ‘what ifs’ what if she tripped? What if the new dart gun didn’t work? All attacking her psyche
merely a month after saving little Annie’s life, she resigned from the tour job in favor of the lesser paying job of a trainer, refusing to even look at the mountain lion habitat.
Since then she pinned feeding the mountain lions on me as I was one of two people she really trusted, and I couldn’t bring myself to say no. I got a seventy five sent raise from my boss for picking up Bridget's slack so there was no way out of it.
Now, back at the house, I stare into those giant purple eyes, feeling like Annie did, board and wishing for something more. I trusted the unicorn when she was behind those bars, but I could be pushed into the lion’s den if I opened that cage.
Kneeling down onto all fours I mustered my gentlest voice: “D-do you want me to h-help you?”
She looked at me, her eyes shimmering in the afternoon light. I was expecting her to either nod or continue working. I never would have guessed what she did next.
After a bit of internal debate she said: “Y-yes please.”
She… talks I thought as a tiny wedge formed between the lobes of my brain. She talks.
Even Bane seemed surprised at this as he licked her frantically, but no matter the distraction she wouldn’t break eye contact with me. She wrapped a hoof around Bane’s neck, still looking at me.
As I approached I thought she would lose what little confidence she had and hide behind Bane, but she stayed firm. Once I was close though, she said: “D-Don’t hurt me.”
“I won’t,” I found myself saying, still baffled that I was talking to a baby unicorn, and that the baby unicorn could talk back.
“Oh, before I forget,” Bridget said poking her head between the connecting door. “You...Ahh, what are you doing?”
“I ahhh was just about to let your cheerleading squad out for lunch,” I said, an unexplained blush tinting my cheeks.
Bridget wore the apron I kept in the cupboard for whenever she wanted to cook, a simple purple one with two stripes going down the left side, one blue and the other pink. It had been a birthday present, and it took me weeks before I breathe properly again after the hug she gave.
“Oh,” she crouched down to be at eye level with the unicorn. “Well don’t let me stop you.”
I nodded, knowing this was a test, and slowly grabbed the handle.
As Bridget watched the unicorn for her reactions, I focused on doing this right to prove to her that I could take care of baby animals, as a job in the parks nursery department had just opened up. I already applied, looking forward to the raise, but I would never get in without a recommendation from Bridget. I looked at her stoic face, no emotion giving away her feelings towards my actions, and imagined the cute baby animals I’d work with.
The lock opened with an audible click, and the unicorn, being stared down by two unknown creatures twice her size, cowered behind Bane’s egear body. I saw a flash of something in Bridget’s face, anger? Fear? I don’t know, but it didn’t stop me as the door opened with a squeak.
I moved my hand slowly inside the cage, Bane wagged his tail thumping it against the old doggy bed, and I could see a single streak of sunlight on her shaking blue fur. Moving ever so slowly, I shrunk myself down so I wouldn’t seem so big and scary, but even with these preparations, the second my finger made contact, she screamed, rushing to the back of the iron barred cage and hitting her head against the bars.
I flinched, seeing Bridget’s face drop with disappointment, but whether it was directed at me or the unicorn was unknown. The blue unicorn was hyperventilating, pressing her back against the wall as her violet eyes radiated pent up fear. Her two toned mane became tangled up in the bars, with the blue separating from the purple, giving her a truly disheveled look.
Her fear was palpable and I felt horrible intruding on such an innocent creature, scaring her out of her mind as thoughts of what I’d do to her if my hand made contact again. I was about to retract my hand and back away before Bridget pushed me. Thankfully I had good reflexes and was able to retrieve my arm before taking a tumble.
“You scared her!” Bridget howled. “Bane come on out, we need to give her some space.”
Bane came out, but not because he wanted to give the unicorn some space, but because he wanted to lick my forehead.
“I saw how scared she got, Bridget!” I shouted, anger rushing along side the pain. “And I was about to remove my arm, but you pushed me scaring her more.”
“Oh you’re blaming me for what you did?”
“Yes, I read the signs and was about to act accordingly, but you didn’t let me.” I got up, ignoring the pain in my foot and stared straight into Bridget’s pale green eyes. “I didn’t scare her, you did!”
Bridget pushed me again, but I kept on my feet. “You’re the one who didn’t talk to her. It’s your fault she’s scared!”
“No, you pushed me right as I was LEAVING!”
“hic”
Bridget and I were tangled in each other’s arms, electricity shooting from our eyes as we focused on proving the other wrong, but something as simple as a hiccup from the cage was enough to break us out of the fighting spirit.
Turning I saw that the unicorn was huddled in a tight ball, audible cries ringing like bells in my ears. I could see the glint of her tears reflecting in the afternoon sunlight and felt my heart lurch forward.
Do I… care about this thing? I thought, wondering about the strong feelings that coursed through my veins at the moment, but that quickly changed as Bridget grabbed me by the shoulders, pushing me towards the kitchen as she said: “We’ve done enough damage, Eric, let’s go have lunch.” Her voice was rigid as tears streamed down her eyes. “I know you know the best thing we can do for her is to leave her alone, so, stop fighting me!”
I held my ground, if I gave in, she’d win the argument, but after hearing another loud cry, I caved, letting her drag me into the kitchen where she prepared four ham sandwiches.
4
As I took the seat facing away from the kitchen window, I felt my hands shake as the sound of quiet sobs attacked me mercilessly. Bridget put a plate of two ham sandwiches topped with crunchy lettuce and a slice of the juicy tomato I bought two days ago after work. I grabbed the sandwich and, feeling the juices soak through the wheat bread, took the biggest bit I could manage without choking. A deep shudder ran up my back and I took a panicked breath, feeling tasteless juices go down the wrong pipe. I coughed, the entire bite flying into the napkin that lay next to my plate. My eyes began to water, tainted spittle flew out of my mouth, and I could feel my entire body shake. Bridget quickly got up, grabbed the cup of water to the left of my plate, wrapped one arm around my back and told me to drink. Grabbing the cup with my shaking hands, I took one long gulp. The water helped, and after a few more hacks, I finally stopped coughing, but I couldn’t stop shaking.
“What’s wrong, Eric?” Bridget said, motherly worry thick in her voice.
“I-I don’t k-know,” I said, air reentering my body, slowly easing the pressure in my head.
She grabbed my wrists. “You’re shaking!”
“No s-shit, Sherlock.” Her grip tightened up unbearable levels. “Sorry.”
“That’s more like it.” she released her death grip. “Now why are you shaking?”
“I told y-you, I don’t f-fucking know!” I clenched my eyes as my breathing stopped for a few endless seconds. When I could breath again, I was wrapped in both Bridget’s arms, my head resting against her plump chest.
“You’re afraid of something, tell me.”
As she pressed her hand against the back of my head, I could smell the perfume she put on this morning and feel her chest pillows push my head up. If this were under different circumstances (ones that didn’t include a possibly dangerous unicorn foal) I would be very happy, but they weren't and Bridget was just trying to cheer me up.
I tested the waters, trying to break free of my warm prison cell, but it was more instinct than curiosity as Bridget did this to me almost twice a month, helping me through my fears, and as long as I don’t get any ideas, she’ll keep doing it.
“I’m afraid of her” I said pointing to Bane’s cage.
“Well she’s probably more afraid of you than you are of her.”
I felt Bridget’s arms release me and knowing my time was up, I sat straight and looked her in the eyes. “No, for all I know she can kill me with some kind of magic blast. She could be dangerous!”
“If she’s dangerous, then why didn’t she kill you when you touched her back?”
“Ahh?”
“And if she’s dangerous, then why would she cower after Bane came to lick your face?”
“Just because she’s afraid doesn’t mean she isn’t dangerous!”
“That’s not the point, Eric.” Bridget grabbed my arms again. “She’s alone with no one she can trust except your dog. Imagine if you were trapped in a world that wasn’t your own where the inhabitants were four times your size. She’s alone, Eric, and she’s ten times more afraid of you than you are of her!”
I turned to the cage, eyeing two giant purple eyes as they stared at me, fear glazed over them like film. I heard tiny gasps as she pressed herself against Bane’s body. It was the exactly what I would do if I were in her situation.
I turned back to see that Bridget had gotten up. She moved to the counter where a small empty porcelain bowl was placed. “There’s nothing to be afraid of, Eric.” she grabbed the box of Applejacks I kept on top of the refrigerator. “But, I’ll bet you she’s overjoyed to hear that she’s not the only one who’s scared.” she poured the cereal into the bowl, the sound of chemically enhanced carbohydrates hitting porcelain was the only thing that broke the awkward silence.
“What’s with the cereal?”
“It’s for her. I know she’s hungry, and for some strange reason, she’ll only eat Applejacks. Something about them reminding her of a friend of her mother, I don’t know, but,” she turned to me, looking me straight in the eyes. “I need you to stay calm around her. She’s only just beginning to trust us, and I want to help her.” She grabbed my shirt, tugging it with intimidating force. “If you do anything to scare her I’ll kill you.” she let me go.
Damn it, I’m shaking again
“Don’t fret, Eric, just stay calm and don’t do anything stupid, Okay. Can you promise me that?”
“Y-yes.”
“Good, now finish your lunch.”
“Y-You’re not my mother.”
“No, I’m your closest friend who got you a job that came with a house, so just do as I tell you.”
“No need to bring that up,” I said turning with a grunt and picking up the sandwich with a crescent shaped indent.
God damn it, Bridget’s on her side and now she’s treating me like a kid! I couldn’t stop shaking, the thought of a mythological creature living in my house and eating my Applejacks. No, Eric, stop thinking of stupid things. If that unicorn is a child, and that child scares you, then doing something to that child will piss of her… Mother. Fuck! It’s like a mother bear coming to protect her cub, if I fuck up then I’m dead.
This has nothing to do with pride or earning Bridget’s respect; I need to keep that unicorn safe so the mother doesn’t kill me.
5
Once I was done with my sandwiches, I put the plate in the sink and began to wash them, hoping it would distract me from what was living in my dog’s cage. The sound helped, but I kept feeling like I was being watched by a pair of purple eyes that were way too big to be natural.
I felt an overpowering urge to lock myself in my room and wait until the magical beast either died or left. I wanted to curl up in bed and pretend none of this was happening, but I had to get across the living room first.
When the two dishes were drying on the rack, I precariously turned around, keeping my eyes centered on the floor, not to look for little cracks, but so I didn’t make eye contact with her. All started out well, I was able to follow the slanting rays of sun and get to the hallway without spotting a single blue hair, but something I didn’t factor in for whatever reason, was Bridget.
“I hope you aren’t going to hide again.” Bridget said in an accusing tone that made me stop dead in my tracks. “I need you here so our friend can get used to the both of us.”
Fuck I thought, feeling my heartbeat pick up. She always has to make things harder for me! But you need to stop running away from your problems. A stone descended into my gut and I felt myself stop breathing for a few seconds. You know I’m right.
I clenched my fist, a stinging pain pulsing from where nail met flesh. “Oh-Okay, Bridget, just let me get something from my room.”
“Hurry up, I don’t know how long she’ll wait for her food.” I couldn’t tell if Bridget was glaring at me or if she was, but I felt something sting in the back of my head.
Moving on, I contemplated locking myself in, but quickly figured that Bridget would just break the door down so that was out of the question. As I entered the room, a cool wave of relief washed over my mind as the sight of my messy bed with its large heavy blanket hanging on the edge of the mattress came into view. I felt the need to walk over, fall asleep and let the waning sunlight lead me to a wonderland where no worry can follow, but I couldn’t and I knew it.
I quickly grabbed the nameless orange bean pillow I bought at the local thrift store back when I lived in Virginia with my mother. It was the only thing from my past I still owned, and I slept with it every night in remembrance of my childhood innocence.
Holding it close, I could smell my childhood house and see the thrift store it came from. A small wooden structure that was in need of a few roof repairs. The words “Louisa Medstar Thrift shop” were painted on top of the door in big letters with red lead based paint. I could smell the musk that came from some wood rot in the door itself, remembered holding my mother’s chubby hand as she said “One thing, Eric.”
“Okay, Mommy,” I whispered to myself as burning memories came rushing to my head. I rushed upstairs, being told by my friend, John Haybert that that was where the good stuff was. I could hear my mother saying “Slow down, Eric!” and feel the wooden boards creaking under foot. I could hear the crackle of thunder bringing the scheduled rain, and felt myself flinch in the same way I do now. When I reached the top of the stairs I shouted “I win!” like any seven year old would. Other patrons looked at me with smiles that said “What a cute child” but some of them only flinched away at the sound of my voice.
As I waited for my Mom to come up I saw the room I wanted to go into and could see very colorful things that I couldn’t wait to inspect with the same respect a geologist would a surgical tool, with awe.
When I saw, Mom grabbing the second to last rickety hand rail, I rushed inside, and when I did, the sight of an orange pillow brought my heart a flame. Touching it made me think of squeezing runny silly putty, but instead of seeing it slip through my fingers, I felt it, and it felt awesome!
But that euphoria quickly died as the orange pillow turned into a roaring fire. I could feel its blistering heat, see people who moments ago were looking at the wears burst into flames, hear their screams of agony as they fell out of the second floor window into a torrential downpour. I could smell roasting flesh as the few who couldn’t escape were burned alive.
Burned alive!
The sound of crackling clothes and flaming wood soon grew and I felt the structure buckle under its own weight.
I… I could have died
But before I delved any further into the memory, I felt something tap my shoulder.
With a scream I jumped, hitting my head on the metal spring board that lay under my bed. The comforter gave some cushion, but pain still bloomed in the right side of my head. Rubbing the tender spot I looked up to see Bridget, her pale green eyes filled with worry, and her left hand clutching my bean pillow.
I moved my hand lower to wipe up the tears I didn’t realize I shed, and huddled into the fetal position, vivid images swamping my suddenly strained mind.
“Let’s go,” Bridget said, her voice cutting through my head fog like a hot knife through butter. I gave no resistance as she pulled me to my feet, moving towards the living room while wrapping her arm around my side in a one handed hug.
She lead me back to the living room, where I could feel my anxiety building in my chest, and the sight of giant unnatural purple eyes greeted me with fear. Bane had come out after Bridget filled his food bowl so I could see the unicorn’s entire blue body. She held her two tiny arms over her head but occasionally lifted them up to check if we were still there. I looked towards the kitchen to check the time, noting that it had been an hour since I woke up. It felt like a year though.
“I don’t know what happened to you back there, but I need you to—”
“Yes, you need me here so your pet won’t be afraid.” Bridget glared at me and before I knew it I was on the ground, pain pulsing from where I hit the bed spring. I picked up the bean pillow and clutched it close, hoping it would help my body calm down, but nothing seemed to stop the violent shaking.
“I need you to shut up.” she leaned closer, sliding the bowl of Applejacks along the wood floor towards the blue monster in the dog cage. “I think she understands us, Eric.”
“Bridget, I think you mean she’s sentient.”
“No, sentient means she can feel and perceive emotion; I think she’s more than that.” she pushed the bowl until it was about two feet away from the cage in hopes of coaxing her out. “More man than beast if you know what I mean.”
I knew exactly what she meant, remembering the incident where she asked for help opening the cage door, but I didn’t want to know what she meant. I wanted to keep believing there were no such things as aliens and that humans were the smartest things on the planet. I wanted to run away, but I couldn’t, where would I go? What would I do? How would I keep Bridget from finding me?
The thought of running away calmed my nerves a little as it helped me forget that there was a candy coated mythological creature in my dog’s cage, and as I formulated a plan, my hands shook a little less. I could go to new hampshire or massachusetts, find a job and rent an apartment. Stress melted off my mind as I nervously checked to see if my wallet was in my pocket.
It wasn’t
Fear began to take its grip back on my frail heart and I curled up again. My plan was shattered. If I try to run I wouldn’t make it very far if I had no access to my money. Even if I did, Bridget could track me with my debit purchases and bring me back. I was trapped.
As if to add to my terror, images of the fire came back to my mind. Fresh pictures of my mother grabbing me before she jumped out of the window into the rain. I broke out into a cold sweat as the heat of the fire rose from the pillow I stole from the burning thrift shop, and I could feel tears slip down my cheeks. Her blood washing away in the downpour, the blood of the hospital, those screams of agony.
I screamed, a loud shrill scream that made Bridget jump in shock and Bane bark. It was too much, my mind couldn’t take it. I got up, not caring about Bridget being faster or that I didn’t have my wallet, and ran for the door. I tried to open the wooden contraption, but forgot that I always locked it whenever I came home. Panic struck with each little click the knob made and I thought the building would burst into flames at any second, but, even with all of my strength the damn door wouldn’t open.
Bridget rushed me, pinning me to the door even though I couldn’t escape. The added heat threw me over the edge and I broke down into tears.
“What the Hell has gotten into you!”
I didn’t respond, I couldn’t, the only thing that came out of my mouth were infantile cries. I slid down the doorway, my feeble resistance crumbling as the wood scraped my cheek. Snot rolled down my face, getting into my mouth and on my shirt. I tried to wipe my eyes so I could see, but nothing responded to my command and I fell into a sloping pitiful mess on the ground.
Cheeks a fiery red, I felt Bridget wrap me into another hug. I wanted to resist, but couldn’t, closing my eyes tightly I pressed my face into her velvet scented sweatshirt.
“I don’t know what happened,” Bridget said stroking my head. “And It’s alright to cry, but… I just wish I could help you! Do something to ease the no doubt traumatic pain you are feeling… but I- ‘hic’ I can’t!” Embarrassment weighed my lips down so I couldn’t talk, and I couldn’t move my traitorous limbs at all. I never felt so helpless, not even at my mother’s funeral. “ Nothing I know about you, no event in your life, no nothing!” She tightened her hug and I could feel tiny tear drops hitting the back of my head. “Nothing, goddamn it!” she broke down herself, resting her head on top of mine as her emotions flowed through my hair. “Nothing!”
After twenty minutes, my tears began to subside; Bridget still held me captive, and Bane had placed his front paws onto my back and rested his head on the back of my neck. I still hiccuped every now and again, but for the most part my breathing had stabilized.
Feeling the simple presence of the two living things I care about in this world made my tears flow easier, and soon my fears abated as a cool gust of relief blew over my shattered mind. I could still see the images of the burning thrift shop, but they seemed farther away, smaller I guess, kind of like the sirens of a passing ambulance. The doppler effect except with memories in a sense, but just as I think the worst has passed, something new came forth.
Neither Bane nor Bridget could see it, but while we were crying, someone had nervously approached, someone blue.
The sight of the filly unicorn startled me to say the least, and I pulled back a little in a vain attempt to get away. She moved back, a worried look on her face, but stopped, then stepped forward again, moving one step closer to me.
I couldn’t stop looking at her face; the way her eyes stared at me, not with blind fear, but worry, and it wasn’t the kind of worry Bane gave, this worry was focused, directed, at me.
“A-Are y-you oh kay?” her voice was barely audible over everything else, but I heard it as if she shouted into a megaphone, and it wasn’t just the fact that she spoke that startled me this time. I could hear a heavy tinge of concern in her squeaky voice.
“More man than beast, if you know what I mean” Bridget’s voice echoed inside my head.
My lips trembled, slowly rising into a small smile. I physically felt my fear melt away, kind of like tears dropping off of my body, and I wondered why I was afraid of this innocent little filly.
Slowly, so not to scare her, I raised my free arm and gently patted her head. Once she felt more comfortable I started to scratch behind her ears like I would with Bane, and she really liked that, but when I left, a certain guilty smile you only see when a child wants more but can’t bring himself to ask came over her face. It warmed my heart to see something so innocent in a world like ours, and, with an open arm, I invited her into the hug. She was quick to agree, giving a little squeal of joy before rushing me.
It was the first time I held her, and after staying in Bane’s cage for the entire day, I could tell she needed a bath, but unlike giving Bane a bath, I was some what excited and curious to give her one. Would she be more like Bane or a child? Would she like the attention or shy away from it? Would she feel embarrassed at the mere thought of someone other than her mother bathing her? So many thoughts spun around my head and for once the confusion was welcome. I’d rather be confused than think of my mother dying any day.
As Eclipse nuzzled my cheek, I completely forgot about Drake and the landslide, and won't remember the former until the end of the week when my pretty little world burns to ash.