The Shadow Sisters

[E1] Chapter 33 - Various

Melinda occupied her usual spot at the mouth of the alleyway between the 24 hour corner shop and the bank. There was an ATM set against the front of the bank and just across the street was the Old Scholar Statue, both of which brought about plenty of footfall.

When the mood struck her, Melinda had no compunctions about asking people directly for spare change. Pride was a terrible thing. And from what she observed, most people spent most of their money on useless things, so some of it may as well go towards feeding her.

But today, she had plenty of food, so she sat with her cup between her feet and her dog, Shaggy, snuggled into her lap.

People continued to drop coins into her cup, but not at the same volume as if she was advertising, so she thanked them kindly and extended blessings from God and all the usual sort of stuff that they'd expect.

Even though she had never been the same since the night of the attack, had never been able to access the thoughts and memories that hid behind that opaque grey cloth, she still enjoyed living. Even though she struggled to hold down work, to take care of herself, and often even hold a conversation due to that fog, she still had good days.

Everything pointed towards today being one of her better days.

Then the sky changed.

It transformed from a dark curtain of speckled stars into a melding thing of warped colours, of violets and blues. The citizens of Willow Town continued about their business, totally unseeing, oblivious, to the strange wonder above.

How could they not see?

A bald man approached her and was about to deposit a handful of change, when Melinda bounded upward, knocking her cup over and spilling dozens of twinkling silver and bronze coins in the process. She pushed past the bald man, who uttered some horrible slur at her, which entered one ear and passed through the other, undigested by her mind.

Many of the oblivious citizens finally stopped, not to watch the sky, but rather to watch her as she wandered out into the middle of the busy road.

The vehicles honked and had to swerve around her as she raised her hands towards the violet curtain.

Then she cried, at the top of her lungs. "It has come. It has finally come. It is the first sign of the Reckoning. It is the beginning of the End. It has come."

-

Gerald Tunny had done little since arriving home from Willow Wood Secondary School. He had few hobbies or interests beyond his work, and even that sparked little passion from his heart anymore.

Now he stood in front of his bedroom mirror, wondering how he'd become this frail man descending deep into his twilight years, when in his mind, he still sometimes thought of himself as the charming young athlete, handsome, smart, in the prime of his life.

He attempted to minimise the discrepancies between reality and delusion by trimming his beard, his nostril hairs, and yes, even his eyebrows.

After that, he applied a minimal dollop of wax and water to his hair, before combing it neatly to the side. That effectively hid some of the thinness, or so he liked to believe. It wasn't quite like rolling back the clock, but at least it was a temporary step back towards the peak, before gravity won out, dragging him down the rest of the hill and dumping him into the six foot deep hole that waited at the bottom.

In truth, he had nobody to look good for and hadn't for some time. His family was estranged. His friends had filtered out of his life like ground coffee leavings. He could not even remember his last date.

But it was part of his routine to dress himself up for Friday night dinner. He supposed, the best way he could explain it, was that it was like a child playing pretend. Like a tea party.