Living The Dream

“Ya know, Joe’s been pressuring me.”

Her mother stopped dead in her tracks and spun around. “Are you serious? What did I tell you about boys? He seemed like a nice kid.”

“No, not like that. He is a nice kid. But he wants to come over. He says this isn’t normal and I agree.”

“You can invite him over anytime you want. I have no problem with that. Just keep your door open.”

“Mom. Get real. I can’t have him here and you know that.”

“Well, I’m sorry, darling, but this is how it is. You only have a few more months until you leave for college. Then you won’t have to deal with me anymore.”

“Don’t be like that. But you know…”

“Yes?” Her mother looked at her directly in the eye as if trying to provoke her into saying something they both might regret. 

“Forget it.” She sulked away down the dark hallway into her room and slammed the door.

***

Laying on her back she stared up at the ceiling in the only sane room of the entire house. She pictured Joe’s face walking through the front door being greeted by shrieking and flapping. Not an option. A few more months. She would get by.

“No go.” she typed and hit send.

“What’s her problem?” 

“IDK she wants to ruin my life. No boys allowed.”

“Whatever. Meet me at the cafe.”

“K”

Rolling off the bed she grabbed her backpack and her car keys. With any luck at all her mother would be tucked away in the dungeon being the madwoman that she was, and she could sneak out like a normal teenager.

***

She heard the front door close, heard the tires screech over the gravel. What she didn’t hear was “See you later, Mom. Love you, Mom.” Oh, that’s right. She didn’t hear that because her daughter didn’t say those things.

She hit ‘save’, turned off the monitor and blew out the candles. She shivered. Winter was holding on for dear life, no signs of spring any time soon. She was torn between wanting the season to change and wanting to keep the status quo.

Whoosh! Annabelle interrupted her thoughts as she swooped past her in the great room, wings flapping furiously. 

“Oh no, Bella. I forgot to feed you again. Come here, little girlie, let’s see what’s on the menu tonight.” Annabelle flew past her a second time, clearly agitated, coming close enough to brush the back of her head with the tips of her outstretched wings. 

“Calm down, girl, calm down.” She looked to the cage seeing it open and empty. “I’ll get you a nice fat treat for being such a good girlie.”

Opening the basement door, she held the lantern in front of her as she descended into the darkness. Just enough electricity remained on to keep the industrial freezer humming. Carefully holding Annabelle’s dinner, she made her way back up the steep stairs thinking once again it was time to fix the dumbwaiter. 

***

After tapping her card at the register, she waited for her hot chocolate, rubbing her arms to warm up. The night’s chill added to her feelings of desolation. She took a seat in the corner, pleased that their favorite table was unoccupied. She thought of her mother and wondered what she was doing. She sighed.

“I’m here. No reason to sigh.” Joe kissed her on the cheek and sat down across from her. He was wearing the gift she had gotten him while visiting the college she would be attending in the fall. 

“Nice hoodie,” she smiled at him. Was it the hot chocolate or the sight of her boyfriend that was warming the icy chill she had been carrying around with her?

“You know, I just don’t get it. Your mom was so friendly to me at the fundraiser last week. I can’t believe she still won’t let me come over.”

Samantha shifted uncomfortably in the tiny seat. She hated being dishonest, especially for this length of time. Her mother told her to come clean already, but she wasn’t sure. How can she admit she’d been fudging the facts all year? She felt her stomach clench, the hot chocolate stuck in her throat.

“Don’t take it personally. She really does like you.”

“You hungry? Or did your mom make you dinner already?”

She wondered if her mother remembered to take time out to eat and if so, what was on her menu?

***

“You like that, girlie? Yeah, you like that!” She threw the rodent into the nest in the sunroom and watched with delight as Annabelle indulged in her much anticipated meal.

She realized that she herself was hungry, wishing Samantha was home so they could order in or better yet go out to a nice restaurant. She had limited time left with her daughter and would have preferred to spend it enjoying one another rather than at odds.

After throwing some water into the cauldron she prepared for the wait. She sighed and looked around. Was it really so awful here that she couldn’t invite Joe over finally? The décor wasn’t exactly the norm, to say the least, but she needed it this way. How else was she going to get her job done? Samantha just didn’t understand the pressure, the deadlines. She certainly enjoyed her new car and the limitless use of her credit card. Did she have any idea what a college education costs these days? Never having to consider financial aid or the exorbitant cost of housing, she only focused on planning her ‘escape’ to college.

She thought back to their last house and how she had promised it would be different this time.

***

“Can we move, pleeeaaase?”

“Sam, it wasn’t so bad, was it? Everyone had a good time.”

“Yeah, everyone but me.” She tore down the Sweet 16 banner and threw it in the garbage. 

“It wasn’t fun to celebrate with your friends?”

“I mean they hardly even knew I was here, everyone and their mother, father, uncle and third cousin flocked here to see you basically. You and your rodeo out back.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, of course they came to see you. I am just the side show.”

“Yeah, the side show that always takes center stage. I’m so over it.”

“Sam, darling, you know how I get. It’s the only way to bring the story to life accurately. The devil is in the details. One little slip and the books lose credibility, the readers get turned off. The only way I can ensure the accuracy is by experiencing it, living it, making it my own.”

“Are you done being a cowgirl now?”

“Don’t be snippy. And yes, I am done with the final book of the series.”

“I suppose it will go to number one on the New York Times Bestseller List.” 

“Samantha, I hardly think that’s something to grumble about. It’s given us a wonderful life. Now clean up please and start working on your thank you cards, young lady.”

***

Samantha drove home from the café thinking about the past year. She had been thrilled to get out of their “home on the range” as she had called it, unnecessarily needling her mother. After selling the horses and donating all of the paraphernalia to the local museum, they put the house up for sale. Advertised by the realtors as the “Marge Cassidy Estate” it sold in one day as the price skyrocketed beyond their wildest expectations.

The icing on the cake was when Sam’s mom agreed to keep her pen name a secret in their new neighborhood. No one would know who they were, just a simple new girl at school and her nobody mother, Doris. She could join the PTA, volunteer in the community. Anything in the real world as opposed to the endless series of worlds she had dreamed up for her readers.

Their new house was huge, a mansion really. Five bedrooms were more than enough for just her and Doris, but they planned on enjoying the extra space with a craft room and yoga room. “Anything and everything our hearts desire,” was what her mom had promised her. Finally, Samantha was leading the life of a normal teenage girl. Inviting friends over who didn’t bypass her at the door asking, “Is your mom here?” was her dream come true.

Then, like all the times before, the subtle clues showed up one by one. Hushed conversations that ended abruptly upon her entering the room. The agent’s car parked in the circular driveway with a weak excuse of “having tea for old times’ sake”. The clues added up quickly, pointing to the impending resurgence.

***

“Wizards, you say?” Doris took off her apron and folded it neatly. 

“And witches too,” her friend answered, sipping her tea.

“I’m intrigued.” 

“You should be.”

***

One lit candle on the kitchen island led to candlesticks appearing around the house. Soon after, the lamps completely disappeared, and fuses were switched off in all but a few areas including Samantha’s bedroom.

Because the story took place prior to electricity.

The massive cage appeared in the sunroom followed by shipments going directly downstairs to the freezer.

Because the main character had an owl for a pet.

“Mom!! An ooowwwwlllll??” Samantha screamed in disbelief ducking down, hands over her head. “What are you even doing to me right now??”

“Relax, Sam. It’s just an owl and a small one at that.”

“Why?”

“You know why.”

“Can’t you just google owl and get your facts that way?”

Her mother stood and stared at her. “You know better than that. How would I describe the experience without living it? The moods she’s in, the noises she makes when she’s hungry, happy, scared. The hours she spends sleeping versus awake. The emotions she evokes in us when we see her beauty, her grace.”

Mother and daughter stood staring at each other. Samantha’s shoulders slumped in defeat. This was a battle she was not going to win, and truth be told her mother was right. She sighed.

“What’s for dinner?” She changed the subject trying to bring a shred of normalcy into their evening.

“Stew.” Her mother said, ducking out into the yard leaving her standing with her mouth falling open.

“Stew?” Following Doris outside she found the cauldron in the process of being set up. “What is this?” She asked astounded.

“What does it look like?”

“I literally give up.”

“I wanted to try a potion but I’m willing to compromise. Consider yourself lucky.”

There it was. Marge Cassidy was back.