Randabell was a beautiful Egyptian Butterfly created half by human. Her hair an unblemished chestnut, Jewels permanently affixed to her brow. Her features were flawless. There was no other like her across the land. Whenever she took a step a majestic glow of pastels covered the realm. Her wings flapped sporadically, causing her to giggle. She covered her mouth knowing what the dulcet tone of her happiness did to the others.

The Ascetics were pushed back into their huts by the unknown force that accompanied her glee. She was Born to a Despot who ruled the Manighaly forest. His life disappearing from him as his daughter emerged from her incubator. Locals spent many hours trying to figure out how the man inoculated himself into her chrysalis causing the eruption of one so exquisite.

She kept in her possession a small Red Beryl that regularly, she would pull from her gullet and gaze upon. A beam of light would radiate from the gem into her eyes. Once the connection was made between the two, the trees would fill with a surplus of Salak fruit.

She would fly off into the distant blue and hover there until she could muster up enough air to send a gust of her sweet-smelling breath across the lids causing every piece of the nourishment to drop to the Earths floor. The folk covered their ears and ran to retrieve the very thing that kept them alive, a manna of sorts.

Unable to understand her design and with no teacher. She realized that she didn’t fit in anywhere. She chose to devote herself to the very people her father tried to destroy; A spiritual message from an unloved one disguised as a vision. After all, he was her father, his eternity disheartening. He was ordered to pay a restitution that he personally could not fulfill.

Nervously, I whipped my 1970 Nova into the only parking spot left in the lot. I called her “Lisa”. The Chevy not the parking spot.

I was dripping with sweat; No air, this Minnesota heat and my outfit, not a good combination.

I opened the door, dinging the car next to mine as I reached into the backseat for my guitar. The weight of the door caused it to ricochet and hit me square in my butt. I looked to see if anyone witnessed my fiasco.

An Ex-girlfriend of mine worked for a local radio station and told me about the audition. It was by appointment only, no general public. I considered myself lucky.

The front desk attendant checked my I.D. then stood up to escort me back. I was willing to bet she wasn’t even five feet tall. A trend around here, maybe?

We went into a room with concrete flooring, the center covered by a purple, velure rug. A long metal table sat next to a wall containing a mirrored window. Someone had to be watching from the other side. 

“Stand there.” She pointed towards the rug. “And do your thing.”

This was by far the oddest audition I had ever been to. However, it was the most important performance of my life.

I pulled “Wendy” out of her rugged, leather case and strummed her until my fingers hurt. I shut my eyes, leaned back and fantasized that I was on stage with the G.O.A.T.

Suddenly the door flew open. It slammed against the wall so hard, I thought the knob broke through the drywall.

“Bravo! Bravo!” Clapping uncontrollably, he emerged from his hide-a-way.

He reached his arm up and placed it around my shoulder, tickling me with the lace on his sleeve cuff. He held my own portfolio picture in front of my face. “You’re style is captivating.” He made a slight giggling noise, fitting to his character.

“Prince.” I could barely get his name out, crying. I didn’t think I would be face to face with the man!

“It’s been so lonely without you here.” He sang to me in approval of my guitar skills. “You know I wrote that for Sinead, don’t you? You are what this band has been missing!”

He hopped happily and with a skip and a jump, I was part of THE REVOLUTION!

“What? Are you in to this kind of stuff?” I had been teaching school for a long time and seen more than my fair share of creepy kids but, this boy took the cake.

I passed him in the hallways over the years; didn’t see him as a problem child. Though, how he managed to get himself placed into my Pre-Algebra class as a Senior blew my mind. 

I asked the group to pull out their notebooks for a homework check. Ronald slammed his on the desk which prompted me to give him a little extra attention. Normally, I wouldn’t comment on how they chose to decorate their folders but, I disapproved of his stickers. Especially the demonic one.

“What if I am?” His cold stare sent chills down my spine.

“Then I guess you are.” I rolled my eyes at him. “See me after class.”

He mumbled something under his breath. 

The bell rang at exactly 3:20 pm just like it did every day. I heard the Diesel engines roar as the buses pulled off.

“I guess you’re going to take me home.”

“Where do you live?”

“Coppertown.”

I knew of the place, they called it “The Snakes” because of all the slime that resided there. 

“Yeah, I’ll take you. You know why I asked you to stay, don’t you?”

“I have my ideas.”

I took a sticker just like the one he had out of my desk drawer.

“My daughter went missing last Spring and I found this among her possessions. What does it mean, Ronald?”

“It means life has knocked you down. The only way to get back up is to accept the fact you have fallen.”

A numbness went through my legs as they gave way. 

“You wretched woman. You are amongst the low.”

His eyes burned a deep red. I gripped the edge of my desk to try and pull myself up.

“Don’t bother. You will now take your place in my family along side your daughter.”

So, yeah.. I got up enough nerve to ask Peggy Sue to the school dance. She was new, only been in town a couple of months. People thought her and her brothers were a little strange. I liked her. It was my last year in Middle School and I had really mastered the “Mashed Potato”, maybe a little ashamed that my Grandmother taught me the moves though.

I waited for her at the double doors that led into the gymnasium. I could hear the music blaring – Chubby Checkers “Twist”. Barely kept my feet still.

I blushed when she walked up. My cheeks were normally red because I was chunky and always hot.

She raised my temperature, looking astonishing in her pink poodle skirt and black patent-leather loafers. Her ponytail was flawless. Ooooh weeee…

I followed her lead when she took my hand and we waited for a bit in a oddly perfect single file line, something my peers and I couldn’t master on a school day.

I noticed her brothers at the front, helping kids through a door flashing with luminescent lights. I thought it was all part of the awesomely themed dance “Time to Glow”.

Roger, the school nerd; we always sat together at lunch, stood with his back to me. I tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to look. At first all I could see were his broken glasses, tape holding them together, barely balancing on his pointy nose.

When I realized his eyes were glazed over, I ran so fast towards the exit. The exercise made me think twice about ever having donuts for supper again.

By the time I exited the front door, Peggy Sue and her other brothers were already there waiting to escort me back. Out of breath, I gave in but, not before getting a glance of the night sky and the monstrous, silver, metal, disc hovering above the building.

Outlined were children being drug into the UFO by a beam of light. I tried to fight but my Sunday shoes made it even easier for them to pull me in. When it was my turn to enter and rightfully so, I could hear Jackie Wilson playing through the speakers. “Your love is lifting me higher.” This wasn’t my night.

BACKWOODS ELIXIR

The Summer the state took me away from my parents, I went to stay with my Grandmother in a squalid trailer on Log Cabin Road – Uncanny, I know.

I was new to the area, didn’t have any friends and wasn’t good at making them.

I spent most of my time gallivanting through the woods. I could walk for hours, barefoot if I had too. I’d done it before – Nothing new to a poor boy like myself.

My Grandfather’s old walking stick helped me to clear the tree debris from my path. 

The day I discovered a creek with a rowboat on the other side, oars and all – I decided to go on a downstream adventure. I was so excited I could see the hairs on my arms stand up.

Like any good outdoorsman, I didn’t trust the unknown. I journeyed across the murky water by letting the cane feel the dirt floor in front of me to insure each step was safe. I didn’t want to be swept away

Every time it found the bottom, muddy water erupted to the surface.  Strange thing was, it sparkled. I looked closer and realized it was mixed with small flakes, Gold shavings!

I scooped up all I could and ran back to my Grandmother!

“Old Momma, we can finally leave this piece of nothing! Look what I found! – Gold!”

My Grandmother began to chant and cast what appeared to be a spell upon the substance. 

“Oh child, that’s not gold.” She waved her hands in the air and turned her body around in circles causing me to feel dizzy.

She took a solution out of her herb cabinet, added the gold and then forced me to drink it along with her.

I gagged, disgusted by the taste and smell.

“This here is drinking gold. We can’t get rich off of it. But, we can become immortal.”

“Take it back! I don’t want any part of this.” I screamed.

My Grandmother’s wrinkled old hands grabbed for her own throat as she violently shook all the way to the ground.

I was next. Oh, the tales these folks told. Immortal was never an option for either of us.

I felt like I spent the entire year of 2020 searching for something.

Whether it was electricity after the tornado in March or someone to help who lost more than just power.

Then it became all to clear that coronavirus was going to effect us all. We began to search for toilet paper, hand sanitizer and even certain foods. But, most of all we began to search for peace of mind which I don’t think any of us has yet to find.

In August, my husband who worked in health care brought the virus home to me and our son. I searched for answers and guidance in a situation which there was none.

September, Covid pneumonia set in and I searched for someone to comfort me in my lonely hospital room, bringing me closer to GOD whom I never had to search for because HE was always there.

I searched for reasons to see my family during the holidays but what I found was a deeper love for them. A love that prevented me from attending the much anticipated events of the season.

I searched for the children whom I love dearly in hopes we could once again have church service the way we used to. That wasn’t an option for me as I searched for the security and safety measures that would assure we would all be okay. But, just like guidance, there was no guarantee of this.

Finally, on Christmas Day, I searched for other human beings as all of our phone, internet and television services were lost because of a senseless bombing to the AT&T building downtown. What I did find that day was selfless and heroic actions by law enforcement to save the lives of others.

I know that I’ve missed so much in between these events. But, what I’m thankful for is the idea that searching will almost always lead you to a find, even if it’s not what you were searching for.

GOD bless 2021!

“Everleigh.” A deep voice called to the little girl. She paused as two Angelic bunnies hopped around her feet, almost tripping her. “Who’s there?” She wondered aloud. The sky had become as dark as a shadow and the snow was blanketing the area.

“Everleigh” She heard it once more. She was just a few feet from her cozy house but being the curious child she was, spoke back to the void. “Who’s there?”

“I am no stranger to you. I hover over your house daily. I have been waiting for a time such as this.” She realized the voice was coming from the sky. The voice was the sky.

“How can you speak without a mouth?” She asked.

The lights in her house became brighter, glowing. The curtain, a backdrop, showing her Mother’s face pressed against the window with her hands on the glass as if something or someone held her there.

The Rabbits gracefully pounced on her feet and then with abnormal strength, pinned them there. Their squeaky little voices encouraged her to listen. “Look around you, nothing is what it seems and all things speak. You are in charge of what communicates with you.”

“I suppose you’re right.” The bunnies disappeared as she skipped towards the snowman, kicking up snow each step of the way.

She touched his forehead with her finger, it went deep into his icy skull. “Speak to me you coward. The Sky and the bunnies, they talk but you look at me as though I’m Ill.” Instantaneously the snowman melted, blending back in with the other flakes, leaving nothing but coal on the ground. Her Mother now beating on the glass managed to get Everleigh’s attention.

She moved towards her home and up the steps, paused and stuck her tongue out at her Mother while taunting her “Na-Na-Na-boo-boo.” The front door opened and the house pulled her in. “You are safer in here than out there. Use your common sense child.” Words so powerful coming from a structure.

Her Mother, struggling once again to pull her stuck hands free, grabbed Everleigh’s crucifix necklace, from the mantle. She took her only daughter and slipped the chain over her head. Everleigh let out a screech as it pulled her hair on the way down. “I have warned you not to go anywhere without this! Look at all of the unnecessary hell you have caused.”

I clearly remember the night Luther showed up at our home. We hadn’t a visitor in such a long while.

I peered out my window as an eight-year-old-girl confused at why the young lad stood outside in the freezing cold wearing only knickers and a flimsy shirt, carrying an old rugged brown suitcase. Though not the first child to come calling, he was the most poorly dressed.

That night at supper, He sat in silence until Vera put the rare cooked roast on the table. He swiftly went for it. A clearing of My Father’s throat stopped him. Luther cut his eyes over at me as his hands retreated.

Excused; I went to my room to change for bed. Startled by a noise in the hall way, I snuck a peep.

“Come here girl” Luther was there, his eyes fixated as he stared from the third floor window. I was not afraid.

“Yes, what is it that you want?” I asked.

“Do you see that?”

“See what?”

“The lady, in the white gown dancing through the trees?” 

I leaned in a little closer to get a better look. 

“There’s nothing there.” 

“My Mother will come back for me. She made a promise.”

“Indeed, but until she arrives, shall we play a game to pass the time?

“Okay, only to pass time. I don’t like it here. This place is chilling.”

“Hide n’ Seek then?”

He nodded in agreeance. I suggested he hide and I would do the seeking. He ran down the long corridor and once out of sight, I retrieved my Father from his Study.

“He’s hidden, Father. Come! Come!” I was beside myself with excitement.

“My precious daughter, why do I spoil you so?” 

I knew why. He loved me and every good girl deserves a treat.

“Oh, Daddy boy, won’t you find him and then I will feast? Please!”

He began down the hall, roaring, he turned back to me “One day you will share, won’t you?” His fangs protruded. I laughed with him, amused by the thought.

I heard the door to the shop open. I wiped my hands on the old hand-me-down apron my Grandmother had worn in this exact kitchen.

“Gloria, Gloria, darling.” Floella walked in flaunting her diamonds and fur, the one she had dyed baby blue in order to keep up with her Frozen fetish. I’m not talking about the weather.

She was obsessed with Elsa so much so, that she insisted I create a candy display for her Winter pageant. The one where the competitors must be blonde, blue eyed and as thin as a rabid squirrel.

I hated doing work for her but I needed the cash. This past year wreaked havoc on my bank account. I was willing to do anything to keep G.G.’s Sweets open.

“This is magnificent, your work surpasses all others, dear! I absolutely love the way you have dressed the table to look “Frozen”. She even formed her fingers into quotation marks as she spoke. “ I know the girls will adore the Rock Candy. I could have never come up with this!” I listened quietly. “Oh Gloria. Are you still jealous?” Her question did not deserve an answer.

With a flip of her wrist, she sent her debit card flying across my counter. “Take a little extra for keeping your mouth shut.” Her voice now ill. I once had been an object of her fascination. The work was sometimes grueling but I never regretted the ride in the gold carriages shaped as pumpkins.

I added a sedative to my sugar mix just as she instructed. It seemed rather harmless. Floella’s version of Frozen wouldn’t come to pass unless the girls were unaware of their acting. I only hope that she leaves the puppet strings off this time.

Once she was gone, I went back into the store room and popped in my old VHS tape. My Cinderella performance was astonishing and my scars were nearly unnoticeable after all these years.

“Jeffery, Jeffery, you can come back in! We were just joking when we said bird houses were only meant for birds.” They all sang the same tune.

As if it didn’t bother me enough that my own Family left me to be raised by a bunch of Bohemian Waxwings. I could hear them inside mocking me. They pushed me out on this limb with their antics.

We normally had a really good relationship at Christmas time but this year they were trying to put me on the tree as an ornament. A Christmas tree inside of a birdhouse, I can’t even make this stuff up! I will not be anyone’s decoration!

Me and my presents will just sit here on this iced limb and when Santa flies over, I will catch a ride with him to the North Pole. That’ll teach them.

Of course that was my plan until she came out. She was a stunning Cardinal not known to these parts of the world. She too was adopted. I loved her so. I had to keep it a secret though. We were best friends and I didn’t want to ruin that.

“Jeffery, just look over the others and their rude comments. They’ve had too much bird seed and you know how they act when they get full.” I could feel my face getting warm. I was blushing.

Sally’s beak lit up in kind of a smile. “ I will not let them do anything to hurt you!”

I gazed upon her beautiful feathers just as her foot slipped. I grabbed her and pulled her to safety. All of my presents quickly fell to the ground. We both got a good laugh knowing that none of the flock deserved gifts this year anyways.