Bearpaw Misfit

Bearpaw Misfit

Michael Ulriksen

The ocean waves slapped against the crumbly sand. The orange sun beamed across the water and into the sea town of Bearpaw. Sandra sat with her red riding hood costume on, staring outside of her window. She sighed, resting her cheek against the window. Her eyes mesmerized at the horizon.

“Honey, your food is ready.” Sandra's mom popped her head in the doorway.

Sandra breathed in and released a long winded sigh.

“I know honey, but it's not the end of the world. You can play with your friends over at Mary Stillwell's after you're finished eating.”

Sandra finally turned her head and looked back with a frown. “Why bother?”

Sandra got up and walked past her mom, staring blankly at the floor as she moved.

“Honey.”

Sandra was halfway down the hallway but stopped. She turned around, blinking at her.

“Yes mom?”

“I love you.” Her mom turned her head slightly and pressed her lips inward.

Sandra glanced at the floor for a second before looking at her again.

“Love you too.” Sandra half smiled at her before turning around.

Sandra sat down at their clean dinner table. Two plates with a slice of beef pie. Steam emitted from the juicy meat as Sandra hovered above it. She quickly pulled away and rubbed her nostrils with the back of her hand.

“Damn!”

Sandra's mom walked in and sat across from her. “It's hot.”

After eating most of the pie, Sandra savored the final piece of the crust. As it broke down she tasted the salt and butter. She wiped her mouth with her hand and stood up from the chair.

“May I be excused mom?” She burped a little in her mouth.

Her mom cocked her head slightly. “To your bedroom?”

“Actually mom. Can I go over to Mrs. Stillwell's after all?”

Her mom widened her eyes for a moment. “Golly. Are you sure?”

“Yes mom.”

“Alright honey, you can go. Don't forget curfew.”

“Thanks mom, love you.”

“Love you too honey.”

Sandra grabbed an empty pillowcase and headed out the door.

“Honey.”

Sandra turned around and glanced at the pillowcase. She ultimately looked at her mom.

“Yes mom?”

“Don't let anyone see you carry that.”

“Thanks mom.”

Sandra skipped down her porch steps and avoided touching any cracks along the sidewalk. The sun had vanished beyond the horizon. The moon had risen in its place. The clear dark sapphire sky was filled with bright stars. Scattered all over, Sandra looked up and saw the big dipper. A tiny smile crept across her face. She stopped walking and stared at a young boy slightly older than her.

“Look at you Sand. What the hell are you supposed to be?”

Sandra stared weakly at him before walking around him. “Sourpuss.”

“What?” The boy said.

She kept her head straight and her legs moving. The boy stretched his arms to the side and left his mouth half open at her.

“You're the fuckin' sourpuss.”

Sandra turned her head against her shoulder as she walked. “Fuck off.”

“Come here, hey!”

The moment she heard his footsteps scrape against the cement, she booked it. After sprinting with her pillowcase nearly slipping, she'd outran him. A few minutes passed and Sandra looked over her shoulder once more. Nobody but orange and brown leaves. She continued down the sidewalk until finally arriving at Mrs. Stillwell's.

The wooden steps creaked as she walked on them. Sandra kept the pillowcase crumpled in her hand as best as she could. As soon as the door opened, Sandra moved her hand behind her back. Mrs. Stillwell squinted at her.

“What's in your hand there?”

Sandra carefully revealed the pillowcase. Her eyes started to dart towards her feet.

“That's fine dear. The other kids have them too, except the Gilbertson's kid. I'm surprised they even let him off his leash.”

Sandra scrunched her eyebrows and blinked at her.

“Go on in, the others are having some pumpkin pie.”

Right as she entered the living room, all the other children noticed her. One girl smiled widely and waved. The one beside her pushed her glasses up and waved quietly. Sandra kept scanning the room and saw Jack Gilbertson sitting next to William Osprey. Sandra's dark brown freckles were highlighted in the room's jack-o'-lantern glow. Both of the girls stood from the couch and approached Sandra.

“Were you hassled?” The one with glasses said in a nasally tone.

Before Sandra nodded, the other girl beside her drooped her face.

“Who was it? George?” She said.

“Yeah.” Sandra sighed. “He needs to get drafted.”

The other girls chuckled.

“Mary where's yours?” Sandra said.

“My what?”

Sandra showed the pillowcase.

“Why do you have that?” The nasally one said.

“We're not allowed to do that. Remember?” Mary said.

Sandra crinkled her nose and lowered her eyelids. “I'm not going to let anything stop me from going out.”

“Maybe not this year Sandra.” Mary said.

“Why are you dressed like that?” William, the boy from the couch had approached.

“Cause...” Sandra looked around to see if the coast was clear. “I'm going trick or treating.”

William scrunched his eyebrows and glared at her. “Are you nuts?”

“Are you scared?” Sandra placed her hands on her hips and stared back.

Both girls raised their eyebrows and looked at William's face.

William shook his head as he walked back to his seat. “You're going to hell.”

Sandra stuck her tongue out and scrunched her face at him even though he wasn't looking.

“You show him.” The girl pushed her glasses up.

“Shut up Susan.” William flipped her off from the couch.

Susan stared for a second before turning toward the other girls. Sandra sighed and glanced at Mary, who swallowed a ball of nothing.

“So you're not coming with me?” Sandra blinked at her.

Both girls shook their heads in a low hanging manner.

“We're sorry Sandra. We don't want to upset our mothers.”

Sandra's left eye twitched and she slowly closed them. She moved her teeth against each other briefly.

“Whatever. See you later.”

Sandra gripped her pillowcase tight and walked out of the back door.

The wind had slowed and Sandra kept her eyes open. She would scan the streets, left to right. Nobody was around, not even the neighbourhood cat wanted to be seen. The moon was currently veiled behind a large cloud. As she walked quietly down the sidewalk, footsteps were heard. She pulled her red hood over her head, some of her dark brown hair flopped out. She turned around and saw George.

He narrowed his eyes from her black shoes to the red outfit her mom had made. His nose wrinkled and his upper lip raised.

“Is that your costume?”

“Yes.” Sandra blurted.

Her heartbeat increased. George took one more swift glance at her full get up.

“What are you supposed to be?”

One of Sandra's eyelids twitched as she bit her bottom lip. “I'm Red Riding Hood.”

George's eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

“L-Lay off George. You're a crumb.”

“You can't be Red Riding Hood.”

“Why not?”

George blinked once at her. He rolled his long-sleeve shirt up and pressed his arm next to hers. Sandra shivered as his skin touched hers.

“Look.” George glanced from his skin to her eyes.

“W-What are you do-

“You look NOTHING like her!”

Sandra yanked her arm away and stepped back. “What the hell!?” Her face grew red. “Why'd you do that?!”

“I barely touched you, freak. You're not white, so why dress as a white girl?”

Sandra stared at him, sniffling a bit. She looked behind herself and stepped slowly, turning back to focus on George. He moved closer and placed his hands on her shoulders.

“Go home. You aren't supposed to be out anyway.”

The moment he removed both his hands, her jaw stiffened. She balled her hands into fists and kicked him in the groin. George fell backward, slowly rocking himself while cursing. Sandra held the pillowcase tightly and ran.

The town was silent. Only the clicking of her shoes filled the air. Walking down the main street she saw signs in the storefront windows. “NO HALLOWEEN” the signs read. She skipped down the street and stopped in front of a small fountain. She looked into the still reflection of the dark water. She could barely see her own outline, and her eyes drifted to her arm. She squinted and pressed her nails into her palm. She scrunched her face and spat on one of the store windows. She sniffled and walked away.

After spending a few minutes walking and spitting on windows, she sighed. She ran back to the fountain and looked into the water. Though it was too dark to see, she knew there were coins down there. She submerged her right hand and felt the chilling liquid cool her. Her breathing intensified, her fingers tapping the concrete bottom. After her nail dragged across something, she pulled her hand out. It was a shiny penny. She blinked at the small object. After rubbing it between her index finger and thumb, she opened her pillowcase and dropped the coin inside.

The moon shined brightly as clouds drifted far from its view. Sandra removed plenty of coins within a few minutes. Some looked bent or rusted, while others remained fairly clean and straight.

The sound of footsteps hitting the pavement were in earshot. Sandra dried her hand against her light brown dress. She stood up and turned. George was walking toward her with a powerful stride. She saw a dark, lumpy object in his hand.

“Go home.” He spoke fast.

“Golly...” Her voice squeaked.

He raised the object to shoulder level. “I'll escort you.”

Sandra's heart raced. She turned and gripped the pillowcase.

“Get back here!” George grabbed her shoulder with his free hand.

She twisted her hips and swung the pillowcase. She felt sudden resistance and let go of it. It thumped with a metallic clink. George was shoved into the fountain, landing back first against the water. As he flailed to the surface Sandra ran down the street, not looking back once.

Sandra jumped from the first to last step in one motion. As she opened the door, her mom stared. Her hands were clasped in front of her chest.

“Honey.” Her mom approached her.

Sandra's bottom lip quivered as tears streamed down. “I'm sorry momma.”

“What happened? Are you alright?”

“I...”

Before Sandra's mom could shut the door, a policeman walked up their dirt pathway. Sandra could feel her stomach rise and fall in an instant.

“Harry? Why are you here?” Sandra's mom widened her gaze at him.

The policeman wore a tight fitted hat with creases on its side. His uniform, although black, made the hairs on Sandra's arms raise.

“I found George Baker, in town past curfew. He mentioned your daughter's name.” The policeman's eyes embedded into Sandra's.

“I don't know why he would-

“I would like to hear what she has to say ma'am.” He stared back at her mom briefly. His attention returned to the wide-eyed girl. “Sandra. Were you in town with George?”

Sandra's mom turned to her. “You don't have to answer him.”

“Helen, stop interfering.”

“Harry!”

Sandra tugged on her mom's wrist. “Mom, it's alright.” She focused on Harry's eyes.

“I was there sir.”

He sighed and rubbed the back of his cap. “Helen. I'll need her to come with me. If I want to clear this up, I'll need to speak with both George and your daughter.”

Sandra's mom looked at her. “Can I come with her?”

They walked next to Harry down the street. Sandra's hands were sweaty as she kept clambering to her mom's hand. Harry scanned left to right as they walked. Every few seconds he would look at Sandra and her mom, and then back to the street. As they walked up to the station entrance, on the front step was a large jack-o-lantern. The design made Sandra tremble. They stepped inside and her mom shut the door behind them.

“Just back here.” Harry opened another door to a room with no windows.

As they walked in, Sandra felt weightless. Her eyes twitched and blinked at George who sat in a chair with handcuffs. He looked at Sandra and nodded quietly.

“So.” Harry pressed his back against a wall and looked at George. “Why did you say her name a million times?”

George flared his nose and stared at Sandra for a moment. His eyes looked back at Harry.

“She was there.”

“You've said that. Do you know what she was doing at the fountain?”

George leered silently at Sandra. “She was getting coins from the fountain.”

Sandra's eyes grew larger. Harry noticed and squinted at George.

“Are you sure?”

George nodded his head slowly. Sandra's mom gasped and looked at her.

“I told her to do it.” George said.

Nearly rolling his eyes, Harry sighed. “What?”

George stared with his jaw tightened. “I told her to get me those coins. Did you see her hands?”

Her mom and Harry both looked at her as she froze in place. Her hands trembled as she tried keeping them still. There were splotches of dirt on her cracked knuckles.

“Now look at mine.”

George remained seated and still as Harry prompted him to stand. He squinted at both hands, noticing clean nails and skin. Except for a few nails, Harry shrugged.

“Why fess up now?”

George kept his cool composure. “I wanted some smokes. I got no money.” George half-smiled at him. “The fountain is packed though.”

Harry shook his head with a tensed forehead. “Your birthday's in a couple days-

“Two weeks from now.” George scoffed.

“You'll be drafted, if you don't end up in jail first.”

An odd look surrounded Georges eyes that Sandra noticed. Harry glanced at her.

“Sandra. Is he telling the truth? What were you doing out there anyways?”

“I was following her-

“George, shut up.” Harry glared before looking at Sandra. “Where were you going?”

“I-” Sandra's voice cracked. She cleared her throat and breathed a little heavier. “I was walking back from Mrs. Stillwell's.” Sandra looked at her mom.

Helen nodded to her slowly. “It's okay.” She mouthed.

Blinking carefully, Sandra stared at Harry. “I was coming home early because of something one of the boys said. I didn't want to be around them anymore, so I walked home.” Sandra glanced from George back to Harry.

“Then what happened?” Harry said.

“George... I think he started following me, from Mrs. Sillwell- Stillwell's place. I was halfway through town when he approached me. He threatened to...”

Sandra looked into George's eyes. She blinked and returned to Harry.

“He was going to hit me. If I... didn't do what he said.”

Officer Harry nodded and sighed deeply before staring at George. “Mr. Baker.”

George flared his nose once more. “What?”

“You can kiss your draft goodbye son. You'll be heading to jail.”

George squinted and squirmed in his chair. “Fuck you I'm not eighteen!”

“Close enough!”

Sandra and her mom left the station and they stayed on the main street. The moon was still uncovered and far from any cloud. Crispy leaves blew near their ankles as they climbed the steps to their home. After hugging her mom, removing her shoes, she blew a swift kiss her way.

“I love you honey.” Her mom smiled.

“Love you too mom.”

Sandra entered the living room and turned up the radio. She opened the window a little more and stared outside. She stared across the open water, toward the bright moon.