Revenge of The Doormat

RDP Saturday: DOORMAT

In the end her daughters used to think, but would never say out loud ( of course ) that they thought their other was a witch.

They didn’t think she was a witch because she had warts on her nose, or wore black clothing or listened to heavy metal music.  They thought she was a witch because she was constantly cursing them out.

When Toby and Bette asked to go to the dentist because  their teeth hurt or they needed new shoes or lunch money for school- she would say ” You kids treat me like  doormat. All  you good for nothing kids ever do is take and take and take and you never give anything good to anyone in return. I hope you rotten kids know what it  feels like to be treated like this one day.”

Because Toby and Bette believed that they walked all over their Mother and had treated her like a doormat  they thought it was reasonable to believe that their Mother had cast a curse upon them.

And she cursed them at least once a day and at least three times a day on Mother’s day and twice a day at Christmas.

The girls were convinced their Mother curse would take hold and they were destined to be good for nothing and never gave anthing to anyone- they still tried to love her- or maybe we were scared what would happen if we didn’t love her. The world is a terrifying place when you’re not even 10 years old.

So burned into their memories was the vision of her mother weaving her cure upon them.

She would be waveing  her hand- not the one with the cigarette but her free hand while she  chanted ” You kids treat me like a doormat -all you ever do is take and take and take and they give nothing  good to anyone in return. I hope you rotten kids know what that feels like one day.”

They would watch ger cigarette smoke would curl around her head like a snake and then twist and twist in the air until it was gone.

After years of having their Mother’s curse cast upon their heads- they  became convinced that all they did was take and take and they  gave nothing in return and what they did give in return was worthless.

Ask anyone who knows Bette and Toby- their ex-husbands- their friends who threw their confidences around like confetti and streamers at midnight on New Years Eve- and they  would gladly tell you that their Mother was absolutely right  about them.

Gertrude Abercrombie

Outside of the front doors of Bette and Toby’s homes are doormats- Bette’s is woven with  flowers and Toby’s mat has been faded by the Sun and when they return home at night from their jobs where none of their co-workers couldn’t tell you  single detail about them, they carefully step over their doormats and close the doors to their empty homes  quietly behind them.

Family Traditions

RDP Sunday: OBSERVANCE

Photo A.M. Moscoso

My Great Grandfather Bertie used to be a carpenter- and in the small town he lived in it goes without saying ( but I will anyway ) that he built and repaired and did all of the woodwork in Frog Spitts, Washington.

One of his jobs was to put together the occasional coffin ( he used to say that back in his young day he built more for women and young children then anyone else, which he found sad. So he would take extra care with that work and sometimes he did carvings on the lids and around the sides.

Long after Great Grandfather Bertie died and his Granddaughter who had inherited his house and property and lived there until she was a very old lady and Frog Spitts was absorbed by Seattle and all that was left to say Frog Spitts  had ever existed was that the railroad named the  junction after it.

There’s a white metal sign there at the jucntion with Frog Spitts printed in black block lettering- a basic and no frills grave marker for a dead town.

Anyway, when our family went in to get the house ready to sell one of my relatives had hired a special crew to come in and sort and pack Grandfather Bertie’s workshop.

Everything in there- the half finished projects, the tools, the hardware and plans for his projects were stored and sorted as neatly as a hospital operating room, so it was quick work to get everything crated and ready to move to one of our other relatives who was a woodworker too.

When they were about to bring out the last of Grandfather Bertie’s projects I heard my Mother say from where I was standing on the back porch, ‘crate those up before you bring them out.’- and make sure you go over the shipping directions with Penelope, she’s got the instructions from the airlines-”

Curious about what projects were being shipped out to anyone over 70 years after they were constructed , I went out to the workshop behind the house.

Sitting in the center of the workshop were two coffins- nowdays they are called ‘traditional models’ because nobody calls them inexpensive pine boxes. That’s just not dignified.

My Aunt Penelope was talking to my cousins who were about to start putting the coffins into the crates and she gave me a little wave hello so I walked up and looked at the shipping instructions.

” It’s going to cost a pretty penny to fly these to-”  I read the receivers address and this time I made sure I read the County’s  name a few times  ” that’s weird. ” I said.

My Aunt looked at me and I zipped my mouth shut. She hated it when people were ‘obvious’.

Aunt Penelope went on” these need to be on time- the connecting flights are sketchy and the receiver said the delivery agency at their end is on a tight timeline so let’s do our part to make this work.”

She left the three of us standing there and I said again, ‘ like I said, that’s weird, it’s not like they don’t have coffins there.”

My cousin Percy made sure our Aunt was out of earshot and he said, ” that’s not the weird part. Look in here-” Percy and my other cousin  Franklin lifted the lid and pointed to the inside.

Percy pointed right by the locks that were inside of the casket and straight by  the key that  was resting on a bed of soft dark earth sprinkled lightly  on top the soft cream colored liner.

” You’re right Percy. That is weird. There isn’t as much dirt in there as  thought there would be. ”

Percy and Franklin looked at each other over the coffin and shrugged.

They put the lid back on on got the two coffins ready to go to their final destination in a city called Sighișoara, where two former residents of Frog Spitts, Washington  went to retire years before we were born and in all likelihood before Great Grandfather Bertie was born and they have been eagerly waiting -hungrily -for their sweet memories of home to arrive.

Lois and Olli

RDP Thursday: FERTILE TERRITORY

John Singer Sargent “A Dinner Table at Night”

Lois and Olli always dined in the dead of night.

Dressed in their finest linen and lace, they preferred to sip their wine by lamplight, they enjoyed taking their meal with knife and fork by candlelight and they savored their dessert in bone chilling darkness.

Occasionally, with knife in hand, Olli would look up from his plate and offer a little smile to Lois and in return Lois, with one hand curled around the stem of her glass would turn her head and purse her painted ruby lips at him.

Sometimes they would ask for salt, or maybe more wine and a waiter- or waiters would come from the shadows and oblige Lois or Olli .

After they served the couple, the staff would fly back into the corners of the dining room and press their backs against the walls and with one eye they watched the only doorway out and with both ears they listened for the clock to strike the half hour before they closed.

” Do you know what I was just thinking Olli? ” Lois would sometimes ask.

Olli raised his hand, lifted a finger and from the balcony above someone began to play the violin. ” What were you thinking Lois? ”

” Go on Olli, you know me better then anybody. You know what I’m thinking.”

Olli looked into Lois’ eyes and he leaned forward and placed his hand over hers. ” Do you ever not imagine me in a coffin sans my head, sweet Lois? ”

Lois’ lifted her glass to her lips. ” Never il mio animale domestico”

Olli took his hand away from Lois and he held it up and flexed each finger. ” Still there I see. ‘

He smiled tenderly at Lois.

” For now. ” Lois said. ” For now. “.

The Rats In The Wall

Daily Writing Prompt: No Turning Back

One year

the rats chewed through my bathroom wall and that night

they were racing up and down my hallway

for the heck of it I suppose.

 

They got into the cat food in the pantry, they chewed through the cord on my tv set.

But I didn’t care. I didn’t freak out.  It’s not like I could kill them with my bare hands.

I just sat there in the dark and watched them and when they were done

they actually went back out the way they came in.

 

My cat followed them to the hole in the bathroom wall

and I heard one of the rats hiss at him.

I went out, right there and then and bought poison

and set it out for my nighttime visitors.

 

It was three in the morning when I got home with the poison  from the all night market,

three in the morning, I am told is the hour that demons are the most active.

You know.

Those rats would probably agree with that.