Sorry this is late. Life got in the way. My third installment of the Monkey's Paw Fan Fic for #FridayFrights
Continued from The Twisted Paw
Continued from The Twisted Paw
Re-Writing the Past
Wish Two
By Lisa McCourt Hollar
Jane sat staring at the paw. The
trick was to get the wish just right. She could wish the little girl back to
life, but everyone that knew anything about magic knew that while the body
could be reanimated, the person was never the same. They would come back
strange, exhibiting odd, even bizarre behavior. And their flesh would rot. So
she couldn’t do that.
Jane didn’t know anything about
the girl’s parents. She always kept to herself and tried not to talk to the
neighbors. The child and her family had only moved there a few weeks ago and
since she never left her house except in the early morning, she hadn’t had
spoken to them. Now she felt the urge to go and say something to them. She
should, shouldn’t she?
“It’s the right thing to do,” she
said to herself, putting the monkey’s paw back in the bag.
“They’ll know it was you.” The old
woman’s voice echoed in her head.
“Shut up. You started this. It’s
your fault that the girl is dead, not mine.”
“You made your wish and the paw
granted it. Don’t blame anyone but yourself. Be happy with what you have and
then you will see how truly blessed you are.”
“I’m not blessed, I’m cursed.”
Taking her sweater from the
closet, Jane put it on and headed out. She wanted to see the girl’s mother and
tell her she was sorry, even if she couldn’t tell her it was she who had taken
her daughter from her.
When she reached the house, Jane
stood outside, nervous. What if they knew it was her.
“That’s silly,” she told herself.
“No one saw you. You’re just a neighbor coming over to offer condolence.”
Hesitantly she climbed the porch
steps and knocked on the door. After a moment it opened and she found herself
looking into a pair of familiar green eyes.
“Jane. What are you doing here?”
Jane’s knees buckled and she
caught herself on the door. She had mistaken the little girl for Betty Sue and
now she knew why.
“Jane?” Behind Betty, Brent came
into view, his eyes red from crying. His wife dabbed at her eye and looked
expectantly at Jane, waiting for her to answer.
“I… I live down the street and
heard what happened. I wanted to come and offer my support; if there’s anything
I can do…”
“Oh, you must be the woman that
the neighbors told us about. I didn’t realize...” Betty Sue fell silent as her
eyes trailed to Jane’s arm. Realizing
that Betty was looking at an arm that shouldn’t be there, Jane covered it with
her other arm.
“Jane,” Brent said, “Did you get
an artificial arm?”
“Yes,” Jane said weakly.
“Just marvelous,” Betty said. “My
daughter is dead, but Jane has a new arm. All is well with the world.”
“You know, it’s not Jane’s fault,”
Brent said. “Sue Ellen was only four. She should never have been outside by
herself.”
“I told you, she went out to get
the paper. I didn’t see the harm in letting her get the paper while I made
breakfast.”
“You couldn’t see the harm? Of
course not, because you can’t see past your own nose. You’ve always been
selfish.”
“Just great! Our daughter is dead
and you can’t stop blaming me for one second to realize that I am in pain too.”
“See what I mean? Selfish!” Brent
was looking at Jane for confirmation.
“I think maybe I should go.”
Backing down the steps, she turned and hurried back to her house. Behind her
she heard the argument continue.
Stopping halfway down the block she looked back. Brent was as handsome
as ever. He was right, it was Betty Jane’s fault. Jane couldn’t help but think
that if she’d been Sue Ellen’s mother, she never would have left her outside by
herself. She’d also have given her a better name than Sue Ellen. If only she’d
never lost her arm, things would have turned out different.
“That’s it!”
“What’s it?”
The voice behind Jane startled
her. Turning back towards her house she
was startled to see James standing in her way. “What’s what?”
“You said, That’s It. What’s it?”
“Oh…I didn’t realize I was talking
out loud.”
“So what’s it?”
“Umm, I don’t know,” Jane said,
shaking her head. “Went out of my mind, I guess. If you’ll excuse me…” She went
to step around him, but he stopped her, putting his hand on her arm.
“I came back because I thought
maybe we could talk about old times.” He squeezed her arm. Jane pulled it
loose.
“I don’t think so.” Then she moved
around him and hurried home. When she closed the door behind her, she flipped
the locks, then looked through the window to see if he had followed her.
Breathing a sigh of relief that James seemed to be gone, Jane retrieved the
package from the bookshelf and sat on the couch.
“I wish my arm had never been
injured.”
The paw twisted.
Jane went to bed, sure that when
she woke, all would be right with the world. If she never lost her arm then her
whole life would be changed.
Jane was on the swing again.
Beside her, Brent pumped his legs, going higher and higher.
“Swing,” Jane whispered to
herself. “Swing, so Betty Sue won’t want to push you.” In her mind, Jane willed
her legs to move and start the motion of swinging, but they just hung there,
useless.
“What’s the matter,” Betty Sue
asked, “don’t you know how to swing?”
“Yes, I can swing,” Jane said.
Staring down at her legs, she ordered them to obey.
Betty Sue smiled, her teeth
looking strangely sharp to Jane. There was something familiar about it. Jane felt
a slight tremor of fear in her stomach. “Come on,” she hissed at her legs, “move.”
“Here, I’ll push you.”
“Tha… that’s okay,” Jane
stammered, sliding out of the seat.
“I insist.”
Jane tried to say no, but her
voice caught in her throat. She looked past Betty Sue to her parents. Her
mother was wringing her hands nervously while her father nodded at her,
encouragingly. He didn’t know she was scared. Betty Sue pushed her back down
onto the swing.
“Hold on tight,” Betty Sue said.
Reluctantly Jane wrapped her
fingers tightly around the chains. Betty went around behind her and took hold,
pulling the swing back. Then she let go, sending Jane soaring into the air.
When Jane came back, she felt Betty’s hands give a sharp push into her back and
she found herself flying forward again. Over and over Betty pushed her, sending
her higher and higher.
“Please stop,” she begged.
“Betty Sue,” Brent yelled, “you’re
pushing her too high.”
Betty Sue kept going. Suddenly her
hands shoved so hard into Jane’s back, that she lurched forward. Jane let go of
the chain and went sailing through the air. When she landed, a sharp pain shot
through her leg. Around her she heard screaming… her mother’s she thought, but
then as her father’s arms wrapped around her, holding her still, she realized it
was her own.
“Don’t look, baby, don’t look.”
Her mother’s hands holding her face, trying to make her look into her eyes. “Just
look at me, it will be alright.”
Jane did look though. Her leg was
hurting and she wanted to know why. Then she saw her bone sticking though her
skin. Why was everything red? Then her vision began to fade and Jane passed
out.
Continued in Forever and Always: Wish Three
Continued in Forever and Always: Wish Three
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