Golden Threads

Chapter 10: Just Some Pie

She just wanted some pecan pie.

She was a bit hungry for something she couldn't quite put her finger on. Papa had just left for his hot date with the Widow Johnson when she came downstairs to hear Sammy and Michael bickering about something Michael said.

She ignored them as she quickly ate a whole slice and started on a second... but instead of a good slice of pie, she instead rushed outside and puked up all the contents in her stomach. Including that strange liquid that she had drank a night ago in the cave with the boys.

Her head beginning to pound after the fact, she headed back inside to get some water from the sink. Attempting to block out the sound of her brother's arguing.

"Guys, please? My head is killing me, can't you call Micheal an ass a bit quieter." She croaks out. "Besides you're not saying anything new. His ass status is quite well known."

Michael opens his mouth to admonish her - not that he had any right to - when the lights go wild and the house begins to shake, and the sound of motorcycles fills the air, Mallory is frozen and stares out the window. Shes only vaguely aware of Michael and Sammy freaking out behind her.

In fact, them freaking out was the only thing that clued her into the fact that this wasn't a vision. This was actually happening.

Micheal's name was being called on the wind and she did vaguely recognize all the boys voices, which caused her brow to furrow.

They were still tormenting him? Why? She couldn't recall him doing anything to them. Oh he was an ass for sure, but nothing so severe to warrant this response.

"No Mike!" Sammy's panicked voice sounded far away. "Mike don't open the door! Mike!"

She heard the sound of a door creaked open. "Mike No!"

And just as quickly as it all began, silence filled the air. It was so quiet it was deafening, making it all the more eerie

"What's going on Mike?"

"Go take your bath."

——

Now, Sammy had always loved Bubble Baths, and that love started when he still was a fat baby who could barely manage a crawl.

He would have so many bubbles it would look like clouds and put so much shampoo in his hair, he'd look like those old stuffy men from the past who insisted powdered wigs were the height of fashion.

They were wrong by the way, instead they just looked ridiculous.

When he was 5, Sammy decided he loved listening to music while bathing and would put on concerts supported by bathroom tile acoustics for invisible crowds. When Nanook came into the family a couple years back, Sam and that dog became thick as thieves, and as a result, Nanook became the sole audience for Sammy's musical bath endeavors.

It was silly, but hey, at least Sammy didn't smell like most boys his age.

And so, as Mallory was downstairs trying to settle her stomach and the ache building in her body, she found she was still able to smile as she heard the radio switch on.

Soon, a song Mallory recognized as "Ain't got a Home" by C.Frogman Henry was being sung over by Sammy and his bathroom acoustics. The sound floating down the stairs towards her.

She could only imagine that hairy dog was listening with pure joy at the attention.

Her head starts pounding once more and as she hears Michael stomping around, she wraps a blanket around her shoulders and steps outside, needing quiet, needing... something.