- Joined
- Mar 14, 2015
- Location
- a fantasy land
The lights come on as the credits roll up the screen and we get out of our seats to join the stream of people filing out of the theater. It was a decent movie, not a masterpiece but funny and optimistic and thought provoking in a lighthearted way, and most importantly -- Karen enjoyed it.
The human flow deposits us at the entrance and ebbs, as groups and individuals separate and turn in their own direction. "Let's go to the car," I say, "or do you want to grab something to eat first?"
She shakes her head, "I'm good," and slips her hand into mine.
We turn a corner and continue down a side street. The car should not be far, just a couple more minutes if I remember correctly, but I find myself slowing my pace in order to prolong the walk. And why not? The night air is cool and clean, I can even make out some stars in the dark sky above us -- a rare occurrence in the city. Besides, walking hand-in-hand with Karen feels like a fitting conclusion to a good day.
But apparently, not that good, I realize when we approach the car only to find it sandwiched between a shiny black Suburban with a little yellow flag on its antenna and a beat-up Civic. "Crap," I utter after verifying that there is no way I could take the car out of this vehicular trap, "Why do people have to be such jerks?"
"Not all of them," Karen says as she steps closer to me and wraps her arms around my waist, resting her head on my shoulder. "Some people are nice. Like you, for example. You are nice, aren't you?"
"Maybe I am," I hug her with one arm while running the fingers of the other through her long auburn hair, "Or maybe I'm just pretending to be, to make you complacent while I execute my nefarious plan..."
"Stop it!" she draws away, suddenly serious, and punches me in the ribs. "It's not funny!"
Ouch. She sure can hit hard for a slender 5'4" girl; must be her Irish heritage... "Hey," I spread my arms in the most innocent gesture I can muster, "I was just kidding. I didn't mean anything by it."
It wasn't the first time Karen would react so disproportionately to something so trivial. Some topics were taboo; she never talked about her family and would change the subject whenever I tried to bring it up, becoming defensive to the point of hostility if I insisted. It took her two years to even consider agreeing to intimacy beyond a simple kiss, and even now our lovemaking is infrequent and best described as 'vanilla', with a real possibility of her freezing up and then kicking me out of the bed if I as much as hint at trying anything more creative. Still, she is worth it. She is intelligent and witty and kind and understanding and always knows what to say or do to brighten my day. Well, other than what I mentioned.
"It's OK," she sighs, "I'm sorry that I snapped at you, it's just... bad memories."
She wouldn't say more and I know better than to pry. "Let's go," I hold out my hand, "There should be a bus stop somewhere around here. I'll come back for the car tomorrow."
We walk silently through the dark, empty streets, and after a while I begin to think that we either took a wrong turn or the bus stop is farther than I remembered it to be. It isn't the best part of town and the echoes of Karen's heels clicking on the pavement sound eerie in the otherwise silent street, making me feel uneasy. Fortunately, I recognize the commercial building across the street. Our destination should be nearby.
We cross the street and walk past a string of store display windows when a new sign on one draws my attention.
"Look at that," I tug at Karen's hand and stop in front of the store, "Maybe we can get those for that Halloween party you wanted to go to."
"No!" she yanks her hand out of mine and walks on faster.
"Karen, wait!" I hurry after her, "What's wrong? Those are just temporary minor change spells. I know that magic sounds scary, but it's regulated and quite safe. Maybe if you just tried it once..."
"Try it once?!" She whirls around, her face distorted with anger, "What the fuck do you know about it?! I've had enough of this obscene atrocity to last a lifetime! My sister is a witch!"
"What?" I can only gape at this revelation but Karen does not stop, all her pent up anger and frustration rise to the surface as she yells at me with clenched fists and tears in her eyes. "You can't even imagine what she put me through! When she wanted to play, she made me her play-toy; when she was bored, she did things to me to entertain her and her friends; when she wanted to satisfy her perverted fetishes, she made me crave them. I don't know where she learned those spells. And I... I... I was only a teen!" she breaks down crying.
"But... isn't it illegal?" I mumble, holding her as she sobs.
"What would you expect me to do?" she sniffles, "Turn in my own sister to the authorities? You know what they do to rogue witches; it would have killed my parents."
This is a lot to take in. "Your parents... Couldn't they control her?"
Karen shakes her head, "She was a rebelling witch and they had no magic." She sees my confusion and begins explaining, "They were carriers: multiple sets of recessive genes. Each one of us has less than one in a thousand chance of getting the right combination. She got lucky. Why do you think magic is so rare?"
I pull her closer to me, "No wonder you hate her."
"I don't," she sounds calmer now, "She wasn't mean to me on purpose, it's just that having magic skews your perspective if you don't know how to deal with it, and she had no one to teach her. She's more in control now, and even tried apologizing to me once. What she did to me was wrong, but I just want to put it behind me." She gently pushes me away and wipes her tears. "I don't want to talk about it anymore, let's jet get to that bus stop."
We see the bus stop just as we round the corner, and parked right in front of it is a shiny black Suburban that looks oddly familiar. "Son of a bitch!" I exclaim as I recognize the little yellow flag on its antenna...
The human flow deposits us at the entrance and ebbs, as groups and individuals separate and turn in their own direction. "Let's go to the car," I say, "or do you want to grab something to eat first?"
She shakes her head, "I'm good," and slips her hand into mine.
We turn a corner and continue down a side street. The car should not be far, just a couple more minutes if I remember correctly, but I find myself slowing my pace in order to prolong the walk. And why not? The night air is cool and clean, I can even make out some stars in the dark sky above us -- a rare occurrence in the city. Besides, walking hand-in-hand with Karen feels like a fitting conclusion to a good day.
But apparently, not that good, I realize when we approach the car only to find it sandwiched between a shiny black Suburban with a little yellow flag on its antenna and a beat-up Civic. "Crap," I utter after verifying that there is no way I could take the car out of this vehicular trap, "Why do people have to be such jerks?"
"Not all of them," Karen says as she steps closer to me and wraps her arms around my waist, resting her head on my shoulder. "Some people are nice. Like you, for example. You are nice, aren't you?"
"Maybe I am," I hug her with one arm while running the fingers of the other through her long auburn hair, "Or maybe I'm just pretending to be, to make you complacent while I execute my nefarious plan..."
"Stop it!" she draws away, suddenly serious, and punches me in the ribs. "It's not funny!"
Ouch. She sure can hit hard for a slender 5'4" girl; must be her Irish heritage... "Hey," I spread my arms in the most innocent gesture I can muster, "I was just kidding. I didn't mean anything by it."
It wasn't the first time Karen would react so disproportionately to something so trivial. Some topics were taboo; she never talked about her family and would change the subject whenever I tried to bring it up, becoming defensive to the point of hostility if I insisted. It took her two years to even consider agreeing to intimacy beyond a simple kiss, and even now our lovemaking is infrequent and best described as 'vanilla', with a real possibility of her freezing up and then kicking me out of the bed if I as much as hint at trying anything more creative. Still, she is worth it. She is intelligent and witty and kind and understanding and always knows what to say or do to brighten my day. Well, other than what I mentioned.
"It's OK," she sighs, "I'm sorry that I snapped at you, it's just... bad memories."
She wouldn't say more and I know better than to pry. "Let's go," I hold out my hand, "There should be a bus stop somewhere around here. I'll come back for the car tomorrow."
We walk silently through the dark, empty streets, and after a while I begin to think that we either took a wrong turn or the bus stop is farther than I remembered it to be. It isn't the best part of town and the echoes of Karen's heels clicking on the pavement sound eerie in the otherwise silent street, making me feel uneasy. Fortunately, I recognize the commercial building across the street. Our destination should be nearby.
We cross the street and walk past a string of store display windows when a new sign on one draws my attention.
GRIZELDA'S COSMETIC MAGIC STORE
State licence #361
Grand opening pre-Halloween Special!
Cat ears & demon horns 50% off!
"Look at that," I tug at Karen's hand and stop in front of the store, "Maybe we can get those for that Halloween party you wanted to go to."
"No!" she yanks her hand out of mine and walks on faster.
"Karen, wait!" I hurry after her, "What's wrong? Those are just temporary minor change spells. I know that magic sounds scary, but it's regulated and quite safe. Maybe if you just tried it once..."
"Try it once?!" She whirls around, her face distorted with anger, "What the fuck do you know about it?! I've had enough of this obscene atrocity to last a lifetime! My sister is a witch!"
"What?" I can only gape at this revelation but Karen does not stop, all her pent up anger and frustration rise to the surface as she yells at me with clenched fists and tears in her eyes. "You can't even imagine what she put me through! When she wanted to play, she made me her play-toy; when she was bored, she did things to me to entertain her and her friends; when she wanted to satisfy her perverted fetishes, she made me crave them. I don't know where she learned those spells. And I... I... I was only a teen!" she breaks down crying.
"But... isn't it illegal?" I mumble, holding her as she sobs.
"What would you expect me to do?" she sniffles, "Turn in my own sister to the authorities? You know what they do to rogue witches; it would have killed my parents."
This is a lot to take in. "Your parents... Couldn't they control her?"
Karen shakes her head, "She was a rebelling witch and they had no magic." She sees my confusion and begins explaining, "They were carriers: multiple sets of recessive genes. Each one of us has less than one in a thousand chance of getting the right combination. She got lucky. Why do you think magic is so rare?"
I pull her closer to me, "No wonder you hate her."
"I don't," she sounds calmer now, "She wasn't mean to me on purpose, it's just that having magic skews your perspective if you don't know how to deal with it, and she had no one to teach her. She's more in control now, and even tried apologizing to me once. What she did to me was wrong, but I just want to put it behind me." She gently pushes me away and wipes her tears. "I don't want to talk about it anymore, let's jet get to that bus stop."
We see the bus stop just as we round the corner, and parked right in front of it is a shiny black Suburban that looks oddly familiar. "Son of a bitch!" I exclaim as I recognize the little yellow flag on its antenna...
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