The Story of Cheshire

Cheshire

    Ms Rebecca Light was a nurse. A nurse at St. Wright's Hospital for the Elderly and the Needy, to be exact. She lived in an apartment with her younger sister Mary four blocks away from the hospital. Every day, she rose, bid her twenty-year old sister good day, ate breakfast and walked to the hospital using her own two feet-she felt the trip to the hospital wasn't worth a bus ride. 

    After all, she could enjoy the peace in her city at five AM in the morning and hum along to her favourite songs playing on her iPod. At four 'o' clock in the afternoon, she signed off, ended her shift, and returned to her home the same way she came. Her sister would be lounging on the couch, a glass of water in hand, and flipping through channels on their television. Rebecca would thank her little sister for cooking dinner, eat the food, and retire to her room to read a book and at seven at night, switch off the lights and fall asleep. Then the next day would be almost exactly the same, with the exception of Mary finding something eye-catching on the news or bringing up a new story on how she rebuffed another boy physically in her job DJ-ing at a famous nightclub. Mary had a black belt in karate and was not afraid to show her prowess. 

    The excitement of the days began to fade, and Rebecca was becoming less content with her repetitive life. So when she woke up to glowing eyes and a smile floating disembodied in the air before her, she just widened her eyes and pulled the covers over her head. She figured that Mary had noticed her boredom and tried to liven up her life by giving her a heart attack. "Go away." she grumbled. "Mary, you're trying to scare me, aren't you? It's not working."

    She peeked after a few minutes. The smile and eyes were still there. "Mary..." Rebecca groaned, checking the clock. Eight PM. Her sister's shift would start in three hours. "It's not funny any more." 

    The smile continued to grin. 

    Rebecca glared at it. 

    "Yes." a harsh whisper hissed, followed by a demonic-sounding snicker. "You'll be very fun to watch."

    Rebecca shrank into her bed. "M-mary...?" she asked. Surely in a moment Mary would throw off whatever disguise she was using and laugh triumphantly at Rebecca's frightened face.

    The almond-shaped eyes curved, and Rebecca had a feeling the hovering eyes and mouth were laughing at her. Then the eyes and mouth vanished, like someone snuffing out a candle flame. Rebecca swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. She didn't think that even Mary could pull off a trick like that. 

    It's just a prank. She reminded herself, nervously laughing at her foolishness. And she wasn't going to fall for it.

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    It was morning and a Saturday, and thus both sisters were eating their breakfast together, Rebecca's shift being slightly later than usual on weekends. Rebecca thought that would be an optimal time to question Mary.

    "Prank?"Mary asked, looking puzzled. "What prank?"

    "You know what I mean." Rebecca said, searching her sister's features. "Don't deny it, Mary."

    "But Becca, I wasn't in your room at eight 'o' clock." Mary protested, looking perfectly innocent. "Maybe it was just a dream."

    Rebecca took a deep breath, counting to ten. "Yeah." she agreed. It was better than thinking that her sibling had gone back to her deceitful, lying ways when Mary was eight and Rebecca ten years old. "Just a dream." she said to herself, chewing on her bacon and eggs. 

   Rebecca brushed off the glowing red eyes and smile as a crazy dream and went about her day like usual.

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